The Church of Ireland Diocese of Connor

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An invitation to MindMatters Conference

Thursday August 24th 2023

The Church of Ireland’s MindMatters Conference is taking place on Friday October 20 in the Raddison Blu, Golden Lane, Dublin. 

A total of 74 projects from across the Church have received funding to promote good mental health and guest speakers at the conference include the Archbishop of Canterbury and Barbara Brennan, from the mental health charity See Change.  A number of projects will also be presenting at the conference.   

Booking is free.  Registration starts at 10am with the conference beginning at 10.30am and concluding at 4pm.  If you’d like to attend, please book your place HERE.

All dioceses across the Church will be represented, especially by those involved in MindMatters projects, Mental Health Champions, clergy, members from parishes, volunteers and partner churches and organisations with an interest in mental health and the Church. 

A limited number of rooms are available for accommodation in the Church of Ireland Theological Institute CITI the evenings of Thursday October 19 and Friday October 20. The charge is €55 for B&B.  MindMatters may be able to contribute towards the cost of a bus to help transport people to Dublin for the conference. 

Archbishop Welby will be speaking at Matins in St Patrick’s Cathedral from 9am.  

Anyone planning to hire a bus should contact the team at mhp@rcbdub.org. Please contact CITI directly to book accommodation. Accommodation is also available with the hotel (by asking for the MindMattersCOI conference rate) at the cost of €210 per sole occupancy per night, including

 MindMatters was launched on World Mental Health Day 2020 with the support of Benefact Trust and, following a research phase, rolled out a grant funding stream which has helped many people around the Church of Ireland to take new initiatives to support good mental health, in their churches and also in their wider communities.  You can find out more online  or on X @COIMindMattters

Connor projects funded through MindMatters are:

• St Patrick’s, Ballymena – Together again: Bringing young people together in fun and fellowship to reconnect and build relationships and friendships.
• Christ Church, Lisburn – Take Five Steps to Wellbeing: Promoting Take Five Steps to Wellbeing by holding workshops targeted at leaders, staff and men in the parish.
• Connor Children’s Ministry – Sunday School Mental Health Resource: Developing a four-session resource to help Sunday School teachers to speak to children in their parishes about mental health and how to look after their mental wellbeing.
• St Bartholomew’s, Stranmillis – Soup and Sandwich Club: Bringing older members of the community together after protracted separation during Covid-19, improving health and wellbeing through connections.
• Lisburn Cathedral – Sunny intervals: Provision of mental health supports to adults and young people, including group meetings for mutual support and to hear from mental health professionals; training courses and online resources for young people; and development of a youth and young adult mentoring programme.
• Magheragall Parish – Project Restart: Reintroducing a range of activities that had been suspended due to Covid-19 to bring the parish together, providing invaluable social activity, shared positive experiences and helping to address mental health and faith.
• Christ Church, Lisburn – Our Minds Matter: An inter-faith and cross-community series of events including aguided retreat for up to 20 church leaders, a ‘walk and talk’ morning in nature, and a ‘Supporting Better Mental Health’ training event.

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