1 Night, 2 thousand euro !

Letterkenny Native Sinead Black held a concert on the 16th of October in the Raddison Blu Hotel Letterkenny.

The concert was held to raise awareness around mental health services but also to raise funds to provide counselling to children and adolescents within schools in the Donegal area.

Sinead has previously talked about her struggle with mental health and has attended the counselling service herself.

Initially I didn’t like the thought of counselling in the slightest. I am an outgoing and talkative person therefore I didn’t understand how speaking to a counsellor would be any different and almost felt silly. I had received counselling via the health service here in Donegal and it wasn’t very helpful. It was actually my mum who made the appointment with Liam Cannon ( director/founder of the Pastoral Centre counselling service) during a dark period I was going through and I am glad she did. Somehow the correct counselling made me understand slightly why I was feeling the way I was feeling . It taught me how to recognise actions and triggers and more so how to reduce them using techniques.  So if you were like me I would strongly encourage you to seek counselling or at least open your mind to it as you have more to gain than loose.

Sinead’s voice’s of hope concert included a lot of talented young people who wanted to be involved and again send a strong message of support and hope to fellow young people going through mental health issues. Ms Black is passionate about promoting mental health and reducing the stigma around it.

I am both lucky and grateful to have a small platform to voice my positive point from a not so positive time in my life. however I would like you to take a minute to strongly think about your platform. Are you using your influence to the best of your ability? Referrals for counselling services for children as young as 5 years old right up to adolescents are heavily increasing in our county and I feel that we as a community could be doing something about that. This time of year can be difficult for anyone suffering with their mental health and I would just like you to consider what could you do to reduce the increase in mental health concerns in your area.  Especially to all teachers and parents in the Donegal region as you have a strong influence on our youth. Please educate yourself  and indeed your children and pupils around mental health signs, mindfulness and techniques and lastly services which are available.

Sinead’s concert raise €2160. Thank you to everyone who contributed. Lastly if you would like to hold a fundraiser or donate to this ongoing service in anyway please contact the numbers below. Likewise if you personally are going through any form of mental illness or know anyone how may benefit from this service please contact the centre or Liam via the numbers below.

The pastoral Centre via 0749121853  or Liam Cannon (founder of the service) 0851237747

Click here to visit their website

Sinead Black