For the month of May, the Oak Tree outside Kildare County Council headquarters in Naas is turning green, as part of the 5th annual ‘See Change’ Green Ribbon campaign.

Chief Executive of Kildare County Council Peter Carey and Mayor Ivan Keatley, along with local Kildare County Councillors were in attendance of the launch outside Áras Cill Dara this week.

See Change, the National Stigma Reduction Partnership and 90 partner organisations are rolling out a month long national Green Ribbon Campaign to get people talking openly about mental health problems and to change minds about mental health by prompting hundreds of events and thousands of conversations all over Ireland during the month of May each year.

More than 500,000 green ribbons will be distributed nationwide free of charge to spark a national conversation about mental health in boardrooms, break-rooms, chat rooms, clubhouses, arts venues, college campuses and around kitchen tables throughout Ireland. The aim is to make the month of May every year synonymous with promoting open conversation of mental health and challenging the stigma of mental health problems.

Story by Sarah Peppard, 24th April 2017.  Source: Leinster Leader  Photo: Tony Keane