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World Suicide Prevention Day and SARI Soccer Fest: September 10th

On 10th of September 2016, Exchange House Ireland will participate in SARI’s annual Soccer fest. Soccer fest is one of the largest yearly football tournaments in Ireland with over 1000 participants. The day of the tournament coincides with World Suicide Prevention day.

Our aim is to promote inclusion of Travellers, Ireland’s indigenous ethnic minority group. By participating, the team of Traveller men are tackling oppression and racism that they and other ethnic minorities face on a daily basis in Ireland. The Traveller community have identified experiencing discrimination as a major problem for all Travellers and there were significant accounts of this directly influencing mental health leading to feelings of depression and anxiety (UCD, 2010)

Each of the men actively participated with Exchange House Ireland’s Mental Health Team programmes; completing a 10 weeks men’s mental health programme which incorporated SafeTalk and Mental Health Awareness. Each of our players will be wearing a green ribbon and through participating in SARI’s Soccer Fest, the men will be connecting, communicating and caring about suicide prevention for their community.

All Ireland Traveller Health Study Team (2010) All Ireland Traveller Health Study School of Public Health, Physiotherapy and Population Science UCD