Make the Moove News

Make the Moove is a mental health initiative kindly supported by FBD which started in North Tipperary Macra in 2018 to help combat and raise awareness around suicides in the farming community. Since 2018 Make the Moove has grown from strength to strength offering subsided counselling, awareness talks, training and more recently a Crisis Response Team (CRT).

Over the period of the next four weeks Make the Moove has launched a new campaign called "Ewe Okay?" which offers a pack to be sent out to people with two coasters and teabags. Elaine Houlihan Macra president explains the objectives of this campaign - "This campaign is to encourage people to take a ten minute break from there busy lives to sit down and have a chat over a cup of tea with someone".

"Asking for help or confiding in someone about your mental health can always be the hardest part but we at Make the Moove are here to help, so if you need any support feel free to reach out to us as all information is on the www.makethemoove.ie website" continued Ms Houlihan.

If your interested in taking part in the "Ewe Okay?" and to claim your free pack head over to any of Make the Moove's social media accounts or visit www.makethemoove.ie

On the 28th of November in the magnificent setting of Airfield House, the Crisis Response Team of Make the Moove was launched. Make the Moove is a charity within a charity that was founded by Macra members in North Tipperary in 2018 to address the horrendous rise in the levels of self-harm and suicide amongst farmers and other rural dwellers.

This initiative has been bolstered by support from UCD Agri Mental Health Group whose empirical research released in October 2022 found that almost 25% of farmers surveyed were in danger of suicide.

Both Make the Moove and UCD are at common purpose, this commonality was recognised by the FBD Trust who brought both organisations together with a hope that common ground could be found. Speaking at the launch of the Make the Moove Crisis Response Team launch today, Mr Michael Berkery, Chair of the FBD Trust said "The FBD Trust was founded to fund philanthropic works that support farmers and their communities. As such we are very proud to support this vital initiative which provides services that can and have saved lives. I am delighted to have played a part in bringing together two organisations that are part of the fabric of rural Ireland such as Macra and UCD.

Macra President Ms Elaine Houlihan said "initiatives such as Make the Moove require a few elements to succeed, firstly we needed an idea, this came from North Tipperary, we then needed the expertise in the area of Mental health, this has come from Mental Health Ireland and now UCD, and finally we need the resources to make it happen. These resources were made available by the FBD trust who saw the value in making a difference to peoples lives without looking for anything back in return. FBD have always been a strong supporter of Macra, this is a relationship that will continue to grow.

The Crisis Response team is a free service to any community that has suffered a tragedy, a tragedy is an event that severely affects more than one family in a locality. The Crisis Response Team is staffed by former members of the Irish Defence Forces who have developed the skills required over many years to commence the healing. The Crisis Response Team in addition to assisting in commencing the healing will also carry out mental first aid triage and will refer people for further assistance. This is a service that is provided to all.

Elaine said of the Crisis Response Team "too many of us have seen tragedy begotten of tragedy, we hope that the Crisis Response Team will help to break this vicious cycle that is breaking our communities apart. If we cannot support our rural communities in their most difficult times, then we are no longer a society that we should be proud of".

Make the Moove can be contacted by emailing makethemoove@macra.ie or through the Make the Moove website - www.makethemoove.ie