A school in North Belfast has been marking Mental Health Awareness Week with a series of charity fundraisers.
Edmund Rice College in Glengormley have been raising funds for the charity ALPS (All Lives Are Precious) for the last number of months, and marked the end of Mental Health Awareness Week with a bake sale.
However, this is just the tip of the iceberg, as the school's community efforts began during lockdown when a survey they shared found more people in the school community were looking for mental health help.
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Responding to this need, the school's Head of Community, Colette Deery, helped develop an online community hub to keep the community together throughout lockdown.
"Mental Health Awareness Week is something we place a big emphasis on every year", she told Belfast Live.
"It's just about putting the books down for the day, taking a break from things and supporting mental wellness in the school.
"During lockdown, we started an online community hub people could access from the comfort and safety of their home, we placed a focus on mental health in response to a community survey we put out at that time, and there was an overarching need for support with mental health.
"Mental health awareness is something at the very core of our ethos at the school, so it was a very natural thing to develop for us, we put lots of resources and online training facilities on there.
"We celebrated mental health awareness day in the school with a fundraising bake sale. The community has been right behind us, parents and families, kids at home have been hard at work baking all week and we're overwhelmed with the donations that have come in."
As well as the school's dedication to mental health fundraising and campaigning, Colette was approached by ALPS in the wake of the success of the school's community hub and asked to take part in a challenge to climb Mount Kilimanjaro this summer.
She said: "I know what a challenge it is and it's something on the scale I've done before, but it's a huge honour to be asked to represent the school on this scale.
"It's mindblowing and overwhelming, I'm nervous but excited. My aim is just to get to the top and fly the flag for Edmund Rice College. It would be a privilege to do that on behalf of such a great school and community."
You can support the Edmund Rice College team in their fundraising by clicking here.
Video by Belfast Live videographer Harry Bateman.
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