Lady Margaret Wakehurst established Niamh (as we used to be known), in 1959. At the core of Niamh’s services was the community-based support it provided to people who have had experience of mental ill-health.
a beacon of hopeSince our inception, in response to emerging needs, we have continually developed what were previously known as Beacon support services in towns throughout Northern Ireland.
Now our day opportunities and recovered focused services are provided to over 1000 people per year, alongside the range of supported housing accommodation we offer.
While continuing to develop services to support those with experience of mental ill-health, research shows that mental health is not achieved simply by treating mental illness, but also by promoting positive mental wellbeing.
Through listening attentively to what our service users need, we have also developed a range of community based services for people aged 60 years and over, to support those leaving hospital or who have become socially isolated.
in 2000, we broadened our scope to include support for the whole population through mental health promotion and research. Carecall (as it was previously known), with its focus on mental health support through counselling and other therapeutic interventions, now offers timely and confidential support to well over 1,000,000 employee 'lives'.
Our learning disability residential services joined the Inspire family in October 2013 providing care for people with learning disabilities in Lisburn, Antrim, Armagh and Omagh and more recently Belfast.
EAP Consultants based in Dublin also joined us in April of 2015, and more recently we have appointed a Director who will help develop a range of charitable services in Ireland.
All of which is helping us to reach out and promote wellbeing for all across the island of Ireland.
Addiction NI became part of the Inspire family in July of 2016. Bringing Addiction NI into the Inspire family represents a positive and innovative move towards a more joined-up approach to overall mental health and wellbeing service provision with particular reference to the area of dual diagnosis.
Volunteers bring immeasurable value to all areas of Inspire’s work to support people living with mental health conditions or an intellectual/learning disability. Find out more about how you get involved with our work.
