BeWell Rural Youth Advisory Panel

Allow us to introduce you to our three exceptional students who were selected to be part of the Rural Limerick Youth Advisory Panel. At the beginning of the year three Scoil Pól students, Shane Shinnors, Darragh Shinnors and Linnea Hove were nominated to go for an interview to be part of the first ever BeWell Rural Youth Advisory Panel to advocate for mental health for young people in Rural Limerick. All three students were successful within their interview process. 

After they were successful within their interviews, they spent the next couple of weeks doing one on one meetings with the Leader of the BeWell team Melissa Bones.

They did fun activities and self assessments, one on one getting to know each other personally before the entire group met together. After this they all met together as a group. To get to know each other they went on a team bonding trip and went to an arcade and went bowling in Limerick, this was a great way to mix and meet everyone.

Everyone Monday the group meets at 5:30-7:30 in Rathkeale Youth Centre to discuss ideas and how they can promote and encourage wellbeing amongst the youth.

They all did a 6 week programme called WRAP which stands for Wellness Action Recovery Plan, this was an excellent programme and our students learned a lot of valuable and useful, tips and knowledge.

Then they began to plan their first event, this was the very exciting for our students because, this was their first time planning an event on their own and had big tasks/responsibilities. Their aim was to raise awareness on mental health for young people, so they designed an event called “The Care Fair” and tailored it to suit Young People . On Saturday May 14th, 2022, The BeWell Rural Youth Advisory Panel and three of our students, Shane Shinnors,Darragh Shinnors and Linnea Hove, had an event in the Northside Youth Space in Ballynanty that they called “The Care Fair.’ The day entailed fun activities, and information around Mental Health tailored for young people. The day was designed by the young people of the Be Well Youth Advisory Panel and was fully supervised by Limerick Youth Service staff. The aim of our team is promote/advocate for Mental Health for the Youth and encourage them to be brave and be you and have fun.

Also, these three students aim to lead the school community in the creation of an environment where Scoil Pól students want to come to school because they feel safe, connected, supported, cared about, and challenged. Scoil Pól students are proud, resilient, respected, and respectful of others. They hope to foster a school environment whereby each student and staff member knows that they feel valued. As a team they have all worked hard to make an impact in our school and to let students know that we are here to help them with any concerns they may have! In school we have two Wellbeing Noticeboards, a Junior one and a Senior one were they keep our students updated in Scoil Pól on what we have done as a committee and the tips we suggest to help your wellbeing, Shane Shinnors.