Walk & Talk is holding a one mile walk on Monday June 1st, in order to highlight the ongoing battle against depression and fundraise for Jigsaw Galway, a free counselling service for teenagers. The walk is scheduled for 2pm and will take the route from the Central Tavern in Claregalway to the Nine Arches Bridge.
Organisers are asking all those who take part to wear green in reference to the colour of mental health.
Organiser Ginalee Healy says that the idea behind this walk is metaphorical: “The idea is that we al walk a mile in someone else’s hoes, that we imagine what it is like for somebody suffering from mental issues,” she says. “We are hoping that this year’s walk will be the biggest yet, seeing as it will be the last one. In the last four years, my mum and I have raised over €16,000 for children’s charities in Galway, largely thanks to the very generous people around the county.”
The Arches Hotel in Claregalway has sponsored Walk & Talk for the last three years and will do so again this year. The hotel hosts a beautiful barbecue after the walk’s culmination for all those taking part. People are asked to give a small monetary donation for the food on offer.
Ms. Healy is passionate about the work she and others are doing for children suffering from poor mental health, particularly due to the fact that she herself has experienced it all before: “I had to leave school after my Junior Cert because of having depression and anxiety issues. However, and thankfully, I am on a great path now. People who are suffering out there, please hold on, because life really does get better. My motto for years now has been it’s OK not to be OK‘ and I really hope people realise this because it it true. People have nothing to feel ashamed about in admitting that they are not OK.”
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- Ginalee Healy pictured with her Nanny promoting this year’s Walk & Talk.
