Shine Launches in Dublin
Thursday, 19 March 2009 16:29
The Dublin Launch of Shine
The Dublin launch of Shine, Supporting People Affected By Mental Ill Health, took place in the Gresham Hotel on O'Connell Street on February 26th, from 11am to 1pm. The event was opened by Shine's Chairperson Catherine Bourke and over 100 people attended.
Throughout the event a wonderful music session was provided by Padge McConaloig, Tom Harte and Lou van Laake. Lou is also a Development Worker with the Basin Club, a community resource centre for people with self-experience of mental illness.
John Saunders, Director of Shine gave a short presentation on how the change of name came about and explained that ‘while the image has changed, the day to day business of the organisation continues to remain the same'. He outlined that Shine continues to provide the same services that help people to move on and regain a quality of life after a diagnosis of mental illness. He explained that the name Shine is meant to be positive, inclusive and non stigmatising and pointed out that Shine will now be able to reach out to young people with a diagnosis of mental ill health through the internet sites of Facebook and Bebo where they can communicate and support one another.
Kahlil Thompson Coyle, National Projects Manager of Shine then gave a presentation on the new look of the Shine website and highlighted that information on schizophrenia, depression, bi-polar disorder and schizo-affective disorder was now available on the Shine website.
Pat Seager, Assistant Director with Shine read out ‘Somewhere', a poem by John Saunders, which portrays the anguish that can sometimes be felt in times of despair, and the hope that can be given when there is help available.
Later John spoke about the work and dedication of the founding members of the organisation and commended Robert and Rosemary Thompson for their involvement over the years. Robert was then presented with a colourful painting by Lisa Martin, member of the Basin Club.
Toward the latter end of the event a celebratory cake was cut by Robert Thompson, which was handed out to everyone. In the meantime, the music played by Padge, Tom and Lou added a special atmosphere to the event while people stood around chatting and enjoying the fine food and beverages provided by the Gresham Hotel.
This event is the first to celebrate the rebranding from the name Schizophrenia Ireland to Shine, Supporting People Affected By Mental Ill Health. Throughout 2009 events such as open days and media campaigns will be run in Tullamore, Cork, Galway, Kilkenny, Dundalk and Limerick.
Since February 1st 2009, the organisation has been operating under its new name and since 2005, it has been conducting an ongoing internal review of its structure, image and performance. One of the conclusions of that review was that we needed to refresh our public image in order for us to be as responsive as possible to the needs of the people we serve. In arriving at the decision to change to a new operating title our research suggested that we should identify an image that was positive, inclusive and non-stigmatising. We hope that you agree that the new operating title Shine reflects these criteria.
We have retained an updated version of our lighthouse logo and the corporate
colours of blue and orange. It is important also to note that Shine will continue to support all those people affected by mental ill health as per our mission statement and
objectives.
Since February 1st our new website has been accessible at www.shineonline.ie and our email domain address has also changed. Staff can now be contacted at shineonline.ie Please insert the initial of the first name and the full surname; so for example, to contact the Director, John Saunders please use the email address: jsaunders@shineonline.ie Similarly, if you want to contact any other member of staff, the same rules apply.
Finally, may I take this opportunity to ask you to share this information with any of your colleagues and friends who may need to know about our change? I hope you will agree with us that this is an important and exciting development for the organisation. If you need any further information, please do not hesitate to contact any of our
Regional offices.