Local authority ‘does not care about northsiders’

TEENS who took part in a mental health study in a Cork City suburb believe the local authority does not care about their locality and that they are regarded as scumbags.

Participants in the Southern Health Board’s (SHB) Young Minds Matter, a pilot programme for Knocknaheeny teenagers, said conditions in the area get them down. However, the spirit of the people living in the northside suburb was positive and worthy of praise, they believed.

The state of an area’s built-environment is a key influencing factor on a person’s mental health, they said, and a lot needed to be done to improve the area’s physical appearance.

Despite council plans for a multi-million euro regeneration of the area, those who participated in the project held out little hope of change.

The 10-week programme was designed specifically for 15- to 18-year-olds. Its aim was to encourage discussion on issues that impact on the mental well-being of people and to highlight solutions. Eight boys and eight girls took part.

The programme included art, drama and stress workshops and an exchange with groups in Manchester.

Sinéad Collopy, a community health worker for the Knocknaheeny Health Action Zone project, deemed the pilot project a complete success.

“The young people involved all responded positively to the programme,” she said.