A nationwide campaign to promote the open discussion of mental health in Ireland is to begin next month. Throughout the month of May, hundreds of local and national events will be organised by See Change, National Stigma Reduction Partnership, as part of the Green Ribbon campaign. Around 300,000 green ribbons will be distributed nationwide to spark a national conversation about mental health in boardrooms, chat rooms, clubhouses, venues, college campuses and around kitchen tables throughout Ireland. The mental health and anti-stigma movement is being led by 90 partner organisations, volunteers and 50 campaign ambassadors who are ready to share their own real-life stories in a bid to help others. Just as the pink ribbon has become a powerful symbol for breast cancer awareness, this green ribbon has been established as the international symbol for challenging mental health stigma. “You don’t have to be an expert to start talking about mental health, and wearing the Green Ribbon is a simple way of standing up to the silence that breeds stigma” said John Saunders, director of See Change. “It is inspiring to see more than 50 ambassadors coming forward to openly talk about their own experiences of mental health problems to show than anyone can go through a tough time and recovery is possible”. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=unB1Mm5pPDg For more information on the Green Ribbon campaign go to www.greenribbon.ie and download the supporters pack here. You can also add the Green Ribbon to your Facebook profile picture here and Tweet your support using the hashtags #GreenRibbonIRL and #TimetoTalk