Press Releases22 Aug 23

Your invitation to the MindMatters Conference

Celebrating and exploring how the Church supports good mental health

The MindMatters Conference is taking place on Friday, 20 October, 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 we’re very keen to ensure as many people are there as possible to celebrate the great work undertaken as well as meet our guest speakers, including 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! We currently have around 200 people registered with space for just over 300.  Registration starts at 10.00am with the conference beginning at 10.30am and concluding at 4pm.  If you’d like to book your place, please go to our Eventbrite page at this link: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/mindmatters-coi-conference-tickets-600321837777

Please do share this information as far and wide as you can. We hope to have representation from all the dioceses, especially 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.

Accommodation and transport options:

A limited number of rooms are available for accommodation in the Church of Ireland Theological Institute CITI the evenings of Thursday, 19 October, and Friday, 20 October. 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, and we do appreciate that this would be an early start for many people. 

Please let the team know – at mhp@rcbcoi.org – if you plan to hire a bus, and 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 breakfast.

About MindMatters COI

While plans for a mental health awareness programme across the Church of Ireland began well before the Covid–19 pandemic, the change of circumstances made these plans even more timely. Indeed, those unprecedented times made us all think about keeping our minds well, and looking for the well–being of other people around us.

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 on our website at https://mindmatters.ireland.anglican.org and follow us on Twitter @COIMindMattters

A full flyer with the programme is available to download here.

Shared on behalf of the MindMatters COI project team