Unit 1, 2 Parker Hill, Rathmines Road, D6.

E-mail : thegatewaynewsletter@gmail.com
Phone : 085 752 1220 Hours: Mon & Thurs 1.00 pm - 5.00 pm

MAR

arch is in the air, and it seems every

2 01 5

Gone Potty at the Arts and Crafts session

one is marching these days. The water-

un-employed Yes, everyone went potty last month with Tim and his mosaic
flower-pot creations. Fierce concentration and good stickability
protesters, the wheelie-bin protesters,
were needed and from what we can see in the picture, Yvonne
the Community Development workers protesting, people has both in spades..
protesting about child-care services, people protesting about
tax

protesters,

the

our health-care system, all types of different people

protesting and marching about various issues. And it is
good to protest. It is good for the soul, it is good to march
and shout about what you see is wrong, and what you
perceive is an injustice, and lord knows there are injustices

Come and join Tim in

the Art and Crafts
every
Thursday
afternoon in the back
room of Gateway from
2.30 pm till 4.30 pm..

everywhere. Allah, and Buddha and Mohamed know this as

well.

They started with plain flower-pots, pieces of broken tiles,

And so after you march to whatever drum-roll you hear, some sticky stuff and a good laugh around the table. And each
you can take off your boots, put your feet up and enjoy the week their creations grew and grew, till what emerged were
ramblings in this months issue of the Gateway Newsletter. beautiful mosaic flower-pots. Ooooh la la...Lets all go potty
In this months issue Ciaran bemoans the fact he still hasnt
won a Pool competition, Ann-Marie takes us through what
her Taking Control Workshop meant to her, Ali lets off
steam and tells us what is making her angry, Stephen
makes a sincere plea to bus-drivers to be a bit more

Anyway this month the theme in the Arts and Crafts will be
collage. No, not college, but collage. Collage seemingly is far
better then college, so get your satchel ready and join Tim and
his artistic cohorts and put yourself through collage this month
every Thursday afternoon in the back
room in Gateway..

Christian in their work ethics and Nessa gives a worthy

review of the film Patricks Day, which is well worth the
read. Enjoy.

The Newsletter Team

Gateway Pool Championship

The first Pool Championship of 2015 goes to Stephen, who beat Ciarn in an
incredible final last Thursday week. Well done Stephen.aaaaaaagh...
All Ciaran had left was the black ball to pot to win the game, while Stephen had
still six red balls to pot, but lo and behold the bold Stephen made no mistakes and
potted his six reds and the black ball to take home this coveted Pool Certificate.
(Ciarn nearly threw-up)
Oh when will it be my turn to go home with that elusive Certificate I keep asking
myself. But I will keep trying and maybe, just maybe one day.
I look forward to the next Pool competition with renewed hope.. Ciarn

Ta k i n g C o n t r o l W or k s h o p

his
enjoyable
one-day
workshop
on
"Taking
Control" was held at the end
of January in Gateway.
There were three sessions, the first for
staff and then two more days for
Gateway members. Ronan, from
Shine, was our trainer, and he made a
fine job of making the workshop so
interesting and relevant and including
everyone in this interactive workshop.
The aims of "Taking Control" is
essentially all about raising awareness
of already existing positive factors in
one's own life, to enhance coping
skills, and to develop and support selfesteem and confidence.

control of a lot of things, but we can

'take responsibility' for ourselves and
turn negativity into positivity by
always trying to 'turn up with positive
intensions'.

doing?' and 'what are we good at?' and

most importantly 'what are our
dreams?' This involved a lot of
travelling from the members and
holidays for six months in the sun! It
was fun!

negative wolf versus we also have internal

positive wolf

supports

Ronan illustrated his point by telling a

lovely little story of a grandfather and
his grandson who were camping in a
big forest, and they were siting around
the camp-fire at night and the
grandfather said that there were two
hungry wolves in the forest. And the
little boy with big eyes said 'where?'
and the grandfather said that the two
wolves are inside each and every one
of us. The negative wolf which feeds
on badness and jealousy and the
positive wolf which feeds on goodness
and love and kindness, and it is up to
us which one we feed. And this will
directly influence our attitude to life
and all aspects of our lives and
friendships and relationships.

To finish the workshop we were told

that we all have support systems
whether this is family or friends,
Gateway, medical, spirituality, and
these are external supports. But we all
also have internal supports like deep
breathing if we get stressed, working
on our self-esteem, having hobbies and
improving our social life. A brilliant,
enjoyable workshop I think everyone
will agree. Ronan ---" It was a real
pleasure to work with Gateway
members this week. Taking Control is
all about recognising where we have
control in our own lives and taking
responsibility for that. Gateway is a
very positive place with great people,
who are taking control every day."

We covered agenda of 'what really

matters to you?' and people replied
their family and friends and Gateway,
as well as their health, exercise and
getting enough sleep. Also to take
responsibility for ourselves. In the
second module we covered stress and
'what were our triggers?' This could be
financial stresses or the water-charges!
Or people who drink too much, it is
different for everyone. And Ronan
explained that we do not have a lot of We were asked 'what do we enjoy

Living with Fibromyalgia

My friend has Fibromyalgia and it effects
her everyday .
I will try and explain why by starting with
the night before. Fibromyalgia effects the
blood flow to the area of the brain that deals
with sleep. My friend goes to bed at 11 pm

Ann Marie

and does not get to sleep until 4 which

makes her tired all day but it still doesnt
stop her having as normal a life as
possible .She is 22 years of age ,she is in a
sports club and a musical society even
though most people would have given up by
now. Sitting down is like getting an electric
shocks twenty four a day as the nerves
effects her whole day. Mary Q

A big thanks to Aga from RPCP who visited Gateway in February to give career advice to our members. Thanks Aga.

By all means lets be o pen - minded, bu t no t so op en that ou r brains f all o ut..

Peer Support.
Peer supports are what gates hang on,
arent they.? And so, this is what
Gateway hangs on. It is all about peer
support in Gateway, and that is what
makes our club so very real and special.
So who are my peers?
My peers in Gateway are the people
who have had similar mental health
experiences as myself and therefore we

share a common ground of experience. You dont have to be great and organize
day-trips or get involved in activities
These are my peers.
(though getting involved in activities
How do I go about being supportive brings about their own benefits ) to give
to my peers?
good peer support. All you need do is
Well every time I walk into Gateway smilesay Hello..and make the
and someone greets me with a hello person next to you feel as if they matter.
Ciarn, when someone smiles at me, or I love the peer support I get when I
when I hear someone saying you're come to Gateway. Like everyone else I
looking great today or when someone thrive when praised and I always leave
gives me their time, this to me is peer
Gateway on a high. Thanks. Ciaran
support.

Patricks Day.

attracting notice for his sensitive

portrayal of the innocent and
mins running time.
troubled Patrick, winning the
n a bright and colourful Shooting Star award at the Berlin
St
Patricks
Day, International Film Festival.
Patrick and his mother
lose each other during This film received the Maverick
the Dublin parade. Patrick also Award for Best Narrative Feature,
happens to be celebrating his Woodstock Film Festival USA.
birthday away from the upmarket Terry McMahons film Patricks
residential home where he stays as a Day has also won the coveted
psychiatric patient. Free from his Screen Directors Guild Finders
mothers grips, and somewhat Series Award , announced in Los
disorientated, he is seduced by an Angeles last October 10th 2014.
American woman who has her own
Film review by
problems. This represents a spiritual
breakthrough for him and they
Nessa
embark on a relationship. Watching
the planes overhead in a perfect blue Director Terry McMahon previously
sky at Dublin airport, where Karen worked as a psychiatric nurse, and
works for an airline, seems to makes his observations through the
represent their personal liberation policeman played by Philip Jackson
who aids and abets Patricks mother,
and especially his personal bliss.
played by Catherine Walker.
The part of Karen is played by
actress Kerry Fox. Waterford She treats her son as a minor; Karen,
newcomer, Moe Dunford, is the jezebel becomes her quarry.
Feature Film. 1hr 50

WRAP

WRAP

Ali and Helen

Gateway will be running a 10 week

WRAP (Wellness Recovery Action
Planning) programme starting on the
24th of March. WRAP is a system for
managing your mental health, and
has been proven to work for many
people around the world.

She
pursues
and
persecutes
relentlessly begging her to renounce
the affair. Of course, this reaction is
excessive and makes you wonder if
Patricks schizophrenia isnt, in fact,
a family illness. The manner in
which she deals with her son; the
way she denies him and attempts to
mask his experience, and the
memory of Karen, to take it away, is
unforgiveable and distressing in the
extreme for Patrick in the end.
You see, she might be (we all may
be) scared of human emotional need.
But here denied, has dreadful
treatment consequences for Patrick,
(perhaps unnecessary, we begin to
think), that are much more
frightening.
Terry McMahon urges filmgoers to
get out and support the film and to
start the conversation surrounding
the issues raised
by this movie.
Nessa

WRAP

The WRAP Caf discussion group

continues on the last Monday of the
Our programme will be led by Ali month for people who have completRochford and Helen McSherry, who ed a WRAP course, or are just interboth have years of experience in ested in getting a taste of WRAP.
managing their own mental health.
Many Gateway members have participated in the programme in the
past, and feedback has always been
excellent. Well be meeting every
Tuesday in Parker Hill from 11:30.
Get your name down quick as places
are filling up already, and please do
come to our information session on
Thursday the 5th of March at 2pm
(also in Parker Hill).

A few of my favourite
things by

Kevin

Colour: I am Colour blind

Film : Happy Accidents
Pastime : Listening to Stage Musicals
Smell: Of a fox (wildlife)

Food : Tea and plain ice-cream

with blackberry and apple jam
Person : Jon Kabat-zinn
Season : Winter as gardener can
rest
Clothes: High-viz jacket and
socks...

Bus Pass Mentality

gives a friendly response the rest of the drivers attitudes

are an absolute disgrace. It makes me feel like they think
It is a great privilege to have a bus I dont deserve the bus pass and I am not working and I
pass and travel free on the transport am just laying about. They assume we are not working
services. However I wish that bus when quite a few of us do work. If only the bus drivers
Stephen
drivers would recognise that we are entitled to a bus could have Charlie Haugheys attitude!
pass and not look at us as if we have four heads when
we travel on the bus. Apart from the odd female who

Community
Workers Protest

th

n the 18 of
February
Community
Workers held
a protest on Custom House
Quay. Gateway staff and
members attended, as well
as many from Rathmines
Pembroke
Community
Partnership. (Theyre the
guys who run Gateway!)
So what were we shouting
about? Well you may have
heard about the new plan
for Community Services.
Its called SICAP, and
apart from the many new
targets it sets out and
activation (getting people
back to work) it has in
mind, the relevant part of it
is that the department has
decided that Community
Workers must compete to
provide the services they
have been providing so

well for years, and these

services may well be
privatised. There will be
job losses, closures and
MORE cuts to services, but
most frustrating is the fact
that the department has not
talked
to
Community
Workers about any of this.
Does that make you angry?
Me too. Call your local TD
to complain.
Oh and maybe you can
mention
this
wellintentioned-sounding line
from their own website:
[there
is]
shared
commitment of national
and local government to
engage with communities
and work with partners in
the planning and delivery
of local and community
development programmes.
Are these just words? Ali

Find 5 spider-monkeys in this months issue or go to Spec-savers...

In 2016, we go to the polls

in a general election. Oh
no..Big groan...Not another
election...sure its all the
same
who
gets
in...Wrong..It does matter
who gets in..and we in
Gateway as well as all the
other organisations around
the country who are
involved with
mental
health under the umbrella
of the MHR are going to
make sure that mental
health is high on their
agenda.

that's when they make their

promises!
(And
their
programme
for
government - remember
the 5-point plan!!!) Hence
MHR getting on top of this
now.

The MHR have lately

released their Manifesto,
and have broken it down to
the first 100 days of what
the next government needs
to do, followed by what
the governments needs to
do in its first year in office
and finally it sets out what
The election will be in the government needs to
2016, I know it's early do by the end of its 5 year
days but these things need term.
to be put to the parties
before they're elected - Their Manifesto can be
read on our Gateway blog.
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 014965558. Thanks ESB for supporting this service.

**THANK YOU**
11 Wynnefield Road, Dublin 6. Ph. 01-4965558
www.projectgateway.blogspot.com Views
expressed in this newsletter are only views of the
contributors and not views of the Gateway Project.