Our Impact The difference we make: Housing “We have provided homes for over 1000 people since the establishment of our Housing project in 1990. Currently we have in excess of 105 tenants all of whom would be homeless without our support. Through our housing project we keep people in a home and out of hospital or homeless shelters by working with them to not only have a home but to maintain the tenancy. “We have been successful in obtaining over €5m from the government funds to provide new homes to those who need it most. We provide this housing in a number of different ways from a fully staffed 24/7 service to living independently in the community in an apartment or a shared house. Education Primary School talks Each year we visit on average 110 primary reaching over 4500 students in Cork City and County. The feedback we get from the students is excellent and they are very engaged in the talks. The teachers are very appreciative of the talks and we are invited back each year by many of the schools who avail of the service. Seminars Our Annual Seminars continue to go from strength to strength with 1,600 students attending over the 2 days in The Clayton Hotel Silversprings. In the last two years we have incorporated musical acts which have a theme around mental health which has had a huge impact on the students. These acts are developed by young people and it is great to see the students get the message from their peers. This event has become so popular that the event is almost fully booked in May without a line up even being finalised. The Next Step The Next Step is a unique place that welcomes those who have experience of mental health difficulties into an environment that provides creative and engaging activities where individuals flourish.” The Next Step supports people who may have experienced depression, mental health or emotional difficulties in their lives. Such experience can make life very difficult. Work can be hard to get and many have to live on state benefits. We provide a year round programme of creative and engaging activities & workshops to support and enhance mental health and well-being. These include Open Art Studio, Craft Cafe, Restorative Yoga, Woodcraft, Singing, Knitting & Crochet, 5 Rhythms Dance, Mindfulness, Creative Writing. We also run a youth programme, dedicated to the 18 to 25 age group. All our activities are on an open access basis and facilitated by people qualified in their field. See our programme / calendar of events on the top right of this page. The Next Step has over 200 members of which approximately 50 attend each week.