N e w s l e t t e r G a t e w a y

Unit 1, 2 Parker Hill, Rathmines Road, Dublin 6 ( opposite the swimming pool )

E-mail : thegatewaynewsletter@gmail.com Blog : projectgateway.blogspot.ie

Phone : 085 752 1220 OR 01 4977005 ( Office hours )

Hours : Monday and Thursday 1.00 pm - 5.00 pm NOV 2015

Hello Gateway readers,

T his is the latest bulletin hot off the press. We are sure you will enjoy

the Newsletter. We are coming into the festive season and it is getting

as bit chillier, but we are sure this Newsletter will cheer you up. The

Autumn colours which are all around us are soothing and are making it

conducive to browsing around our magasine. We celebrated World Mental Health Day here in Gateway on the

10th of October to great success and we enclose lots of photos and quotes from the day. Read on.

Why did the man with the one hand cross to the other side of the road. ?

To get to the second-hand shop.

A Member’s Interest

H ello I am Otto from Gateway. Just a little

word about The Men’s Shed which is in

Dolphins House. The Men’s Shed is a

woodcraft workshop where men can drop

in for work-experience or recreation. For example, we

just completed a wooden shed in Rubens Street. It is

open from Monday to Friday from 10am –1.30pm. I

have been attending there for over a year, and I find it

very helpful as it keeps me busy and gets me out of the

house. Otto

Cathal Brugha barracks visit

On Thursday 22nd October, thanks

to the organisation of Tom, eight of

us visited Cathal Brugha Barracks

in Rathmines, guided by Captain

Dermot Collins of the 7th battalion,

which is housed there. There are

around 1000 people working at the

barracks and the place boasts a

colourful history dating back to

1810. In the museum we saw the

death mask of Michael Collins, as

well as the pistol he carried and

other items all around the last desk

he sat at before leaving for Béal na

Bláth. We were shown the parade

grounds and pointed out where

Collins had lived.

We visited the cells and saw the

weapons and uniforms used over

the generations, but as there are

currently building works in

progress, we couldn’t see the place

where the pacifist journalist,

Francis Sheehy-Skeffington was

murdered by the bloodthirsty

Captain Bowen-Colthurst while

Sheehy-Skeffington was attempting

to stop the looting after the 1916

Rising. When the Irish troops took

possession of the barracks in 1922,

it was said that they entered by the

front gate while the English left by

the back!

The barracks is the closest one to

the Dáil, and houses the 2 Brigade

Cavalry Squadron, which is

responsible for military cordons.

The Army Music School is also

resident in Cathal Brugha barracks,

but unfortunately there were no

performances during our visit!

Six of the original 1916 volunteers

The best and m

ost beautifu

l things in

the w

orld

cannot be seen or e

ven touched - t

hey must b

e

felt with

the heart.

Helen Keller

The Wall of Dignity, Inspiration, Awe, and Anima.

W e kicked off World

Mental Health Day

2015 in Gateway by

having a Sound

Meditation given by Simone

Meschnig which was absolutely

brilliant. We all sat around in a

group, closed our eyes and relaxed

while Simone played beautiful

sounds on her Tibetan bowls and

we drifted off into Eastern

tranquillity.

Next up we had our own Ali R who

gave a talk about the benefits of

WRAP, which was followed by

individuals who brought some of

their Wellness Tools associated

with their WRAP program .

“Wellness in gardening”

We had Kevin expounding the

Wellness of gardening he has found

and very kindly brought in 15

lettuce plants for everyone (nearly)

in the audience. Richard’s Wellness

was his music and how he finds

music to be very important in his

life, Rosemary showed us some

wonderful knit-craft that she done

and finds these are her Wellness

tools and Paul gave us his

description of what his Wellness

tools comprised of, which was a

daily log of activities that if

successfully implemented, he

deserves himself with a pint of

Guinness at the end of the week.

Rachel showed us her art work and

her stunning photography.

We took a break then and had tea

and coffee while chatting and

talking with each other. John K was

the Head Dom for the day and kept

us fairly well on time.

Next up was a short presentation

from Carmen Bryce from MyMind

Counselling services who told us

the benefits of her organisation and

the low cost sessions that are

available to Gateway members.

Another cuppa followed while the

people who had written their story

of Dignity prepared for their debut

readings they had written. I am sure

I heard butterflies flapping their

wings in tummys as the moment

approached. This was their big

moment to stand up and relate their

stories of Dignity.

“ A very generous donation”

But just before they read their

stories to us, Fionn was presented

with a very generous donation from

Michael Kelly from the Rathmines

Initiative from their annual Garden

Trail. A very big thank you from

Gateway for this. It is brilliant how

community helps each other.

“Dignity”

So we finally wrapped up with

readings from our own members of

their own experience of Dignity

which they felt at some time of

their lives. This was a very uplifting

part of the day, as it high-lighted

the possibility of something

positive in where we might have

thought that we would only

encounter negativity in our lives.

Congratulations to all who took part

in this fantastic work.

“The Book of Dignity, Inspiration,

Awe and Anima”

Their stories are now in our very

own Book of Dignity, Inspiration,

Awe and Anima which can be read

here in Gateway at any time.

So a huge

round of

applause

please to all

members

and staff

who made

World

Mental

Health Day

2015 in

Gateway a

wonderful

day.

Our Book of Dignity,

Inspiration, Awe and Anima.

Rose reading her story of dignity

A big welcome back to Tim, our Thursday

afternoon Arts and Crafts artiste…

Drop in on Thursday afternoons!

Question Corner Q : Can any body join the Newsletter Team ?.

A : Yes , everyone is welcome to join the Newsletter

Team at any time..

I would like to create an anthology of poetry

so if we have any members out there who have

some poetry and you would like to include

your work in our newsletter., send them to us

in the Newsletter. Thank You. Rose.

Gateway’s #Digni ty Project :

Throughout the month of

September Gateway

members have been

developing and sharing their

own personal stories to

highlight the importance of

dignity for recovery and

wellbeing. These stories

have inspired The Book of

Dignity, Inspiration, Awe

and Anima by Gateway

members that was launched

at our World Mental Health

Day wellbeing event on the

10th October 2015.

Reflecting on the

storytelling process the

group said: “We have

spoken about how we felt

when we were treated with

dignity, rather than when we

were not, recognising that

we all deserve and should

expect to be treated with

dignity wherever we are in

life. This process has been

an inspiration for everyone

involved and is testament to

our commitment to positive

awareness of mental health

in the community.” Yvonne reading her story of Dignity..

Quotes about Dignity from World Mental Health Day

‘The welcome was wonderful as we walked in the door’

Yvonne ‘What a day to have our say’ Tom

‘You can have the word can’t in your life, but always drop

the t!’ Dee.’ ‘Discouragement and failure are two of the

surest stepping stones to success’ Dale Carnegie

‘Nothing is impossible, the word itself says “I’m possible” !

Audrey Hepburn

‘The important thing isn’t what other people think you are;

it’s who you are’ Shannon L Alder

‘There was a great atmosphere here all day’ Phyllis

A poem that inspired the story

called “Blue Flowers”.

The love and devotion I gave my child,

I thought I could give to no other,

But life held a lovely surprise for me,

The day I became a grandmother.

‘ It i s hard to describe the feel good fac tor on

the day, i t was great to see so many new

faces , inspir ing to hear the wonderful digni ty

readings and amazing to know Gateway

members planned the day f rom top to bot tom.’

John K.

Just to let you know : Every Tuesday the

cinema is €5 in the Omniplex Rathmines.

Reviews of ‘Brooklyn ‘ the film with Saorise

Ronan is getting good reviews. Remember to

bring your own popcorn, it’s cheaper!

FREE YOUR VOICE!

NEW CHORAL

GROUP STARTING

WED 18TH NOV: ASK

FOR MORE INFO!

These are a few of my favourite things .Tom C.

Pastime : Travel

Smell : Freshly cut grass

Food : Shepherds Pie yum yum

Person : Graham Greene

Season : Spring-time

Clothes : Singlet

Colour : Orange

Song : “Louie Louie”

Sound: Rain on my window

Thanks and appreciation to all our supporters

Zywocice :Alphabetically, the last place on earth is Zywocice in Poland, but who knows how to pronounce it?

MY MIND in Ranelagh is offering discounted

counselling services. Vouchers are available to

Gateway members at €10 per session for 5

sessions. Contact Gateway on 01-4977005. Thank you to

the ESB for supporting this service.

Gateway Development report to members 12/10/15

Oliver Duffy, a member with Gateway since 2010, is a

representative on both the Advisory & management Sub-

group working to develop gateways new management

structure. The most recent Sub-Group meeting took place

on Friday 2nd of October.

Main Points from Sub-Group meeting.

Constitution and Board Pack.

There was a long discussion about the constitution and

Board Pack for new Management committee members.

There was also an issue around liability that needs to be

fully cleared up as Gateway will for the time being

operate as an association, so to get clarity around all the

above it was agreed that some expert advice from Mental

health Ireland was needed here, so the Sub-group is

meeting on Friday 16th of October to consider the

expert advise before decisions are made.

Steps to developing new Gateway Management

Committee:

Discussion about whether there should be an open vote

among members in Gateway when filling positions on

new management Committee. Another view was that the

Management Committee should be appointed directly

from the Advisory Committee. No agreement was

reached, this issue was going to be returned to on the

16th . ( It was voted at our last members meeting on the

12th of October that the management Committee would

for the first year be voted in by the Advisory Committee)

Thanks Oliver for the report and we hope you keep

up the very important work you do for Gateway.

What i s Gateway?

Gateway is a member and peer led social support

community group for people with self-experience of

mental health and recovery that meet up every

Monday and Thursday from 1pm—5pm in Parker Hill,

Rathmines (opposite the swimming pool). We would

love you to come along and join us anytime. We have

coffee, biscuits and fruit and chats, Arts & Crafts, pool

table, free computers, a meditation group, Indian Head

Massage, a newsletter group, a writer’s group, great

courses and more but most of all a wonderful Gateway

Welcome awaits you! We welcome new members

from the southside of Dublin city.—do drop in!

BUSES: 14 15 83 65 140 18

(Get off at swimming pool stop)

D12 Community Mental Health Forum Notice

The LAUGHTER Lunch!

Wednesday 25th November 2015

Official Launch of the Dublin 12

Community Mental Health Forum

www.d12mh.blogspot.ie

10am – 12pm

Guest speakers include:

John Moynes, comedian

Orla Barry, Mental Health Ireland

William Finnegan, D12CMHF & EVE

Light lunch included

Where? Father Kitt Court, St Agnes Road, Crumlin Village, Dublin 12

Dublin Book Festival. Smock Alley Theatre. Temple

Bar, November 13-15 www.dublinbookfestival.com

Bette Davis Season Pearse St Library at 2 pm. free

admission