Mayo Lions club launch ‘A Call Can Save a Life’ initiative

CLAREMORRIS and District Lions Club has commenced a ground-breaking initiative called ‘A Call Can Save A Life.’ Like all the best ideas - it’s a simple one.

The initiative provides signage at locations and facilities where young people congregate, displaying contact details of a few organisations that provide supports to teenagers.

The woman behind the idea is Lions president Melissa Walsh.

“We’ve been talking about doing something like this in the Lions for the last year,” said Melissa. “The question was: How would we go about it? So, I put together a list of supports and contacts for all ages across the board, from race, LGBT+, Alone, cancer, elderly, young people, all that, and I printed 5,000 leaflets, as we've been distributed them for a few months.

“Then I was in a secondary school last week and I thought, these students aren’t going to ring the Samaritans, or any of these organisations, so I went back to my office and I looked up the websites of young people’s support groups.

“One of the ones I found was an organisation called Spun Out. This is Ireland’s youth information and support platform, working towards an Ireland where all young people are supported and empowered to thrive.

“Their mission is to work collaboratively with young people to support mental health and well-being. They do this by creating evidence-based, person-centred digital solutions and safe, validating support spaces. Their slogan is ‘If it matters to you, it matters to us’.

“I did more research on the organisation and I thought that their aims matched what we wanted to achieve, by making teenagers aware, locally.”

She continued: “They have a range of accessible and free services that are there for teenagers whenever needed. They share factual information on mental health and wellbeing. They provide immediate, free and anonymous text support to anyone who wants to talk. They share the stories and experiences of young people across Ireland to amplify their voices, and so that they feel a little less alone. They can also connect teenagers to trusted services and resources around the country for further support.

“The organisation is run by young people, for young people, and they work collaboratively with other young people to support mental health and wellbeing. A community of young contributors and volunteers powers their service. They provide empathy, compassion, equity and expertise.

“So I created a QR Code and I put all this together for specifically young people and then I contacted local sports clubs and I said, can we display this information at your facilities.

“The response has been phenomenal. We're putting an A4 sign with the QR code and a few contracts for youth support services in all the sporting venues in the Claremorris area. We’re promoting the message simply as: ‘A Call Can Save A Life’.

“We’re putting them on the backs of doors, in canteens, changing rooms, in private places where they can easily scan the code and access the services. The information will be on their phone for later or whenever. It's also gone into the secondary schools.

“Some of the clubs will put up a pitch hoarding sign, free of charge, which will be supplied by the Lions. These are sponsored by my own company MW Design, Print and Signs.

“Then the scouts and the boxing and few other places have said they’d display them too. So we’re also doing different sized signs for them to put up on their walls and again, they'd have the labels in the backs of the doors.”

Unsurprisingly, given the simplicity and usefulness of the initiative, Melissa said there has been demand for a similar type of sign aimed at adults.

“We’ve had calls from pubs and businesses for an adult-oriented version. It has escalated a lot in the last week or so. We want clubs and businesses to photograph the signs when they go up and to tag the Claremorris and District Lions on social media to promote the work the Lions do. The signs are all provided free of charge to the organisations.”

Claremorris and District Lions has a long history of executing simple ideas that have been hugely successful down the years. This is up there with the best they have ever come up.

Lions members are ordinary people from the community who give their time freely to serve their community and beyond through fundraising, support and aid and 100% of funds raised goes to worthy causes.

Claremorris and District Lions Club runs a diabetes awareness campaign, promotes suicide awareness, supports mental health initiatives, operate Message in a Bottle, supports a carers weekend, helps fund the Dance Memory Club, organises a peace poster competition, runs a spectacle collection service for other charities, and has a continuing environmental campaign. The club provides financial support to Red Cross, Family Support Centre, Curam, SVP and other one-off causes.

Funds are raised through a number of activities, including an annual tree-planting initiative, church gate collection, an annual stage play, and a food appeal in the run up to Christmas. The club also accepts donations and is affiliated to the worldwide Lions organisation and is a registered charity.

If you would like to help the Lions you can do so by supporting their fundraisers, or if you’d like to join, they meet on the first Wednesday of every month in the Dalton Inn at 8.30 p.m.