It is hoped Jigsaw will have an outreach centre in Clonmel by the end of the year.
The charity focuses on improving mental health outcomes for young people through their intervention service and already has a hub in Thurles.
Emer Leahy is the Service Manager for the Tipperary Jigsaw branch and says that the recent report from the Mental Health Commission recognises the challenges and urgent need for more investment.
She says they have seen a 14% increase in the number of appointments at the local service, despite only opening in 2021.
Emer told Tipp FM that they hope to have a second hub in operation this year, and funding must be prioritised in this year’s budget:
“I think 2022 has really shown in the massive demand increase, and while we have been able to deliver on those requests, we are an intervention service it is imperative that we get to deliver that service within a reasonable time, and at the present time it is just not sustainable. We need more funding, we need more resources, we need more clinical hours, we need in order to meet hat demand and in order not to have again similar witing lists it needs to be prioritised.”
She also says people can contact them at any time for help :
“the main hub is in Thurles within the service we can provide in person one to one supports or we can do it online virtually. People can contact us, refer in, self-referrals, they can come through GPs, parents , they can contact us our office hours are Monday to Friday we have a long evening on the Tuesday so we are open later. They can contact us on 050460025 or email us at [email protected] “
