August 2023 Newsletter – Happiness and Contentment

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AUGUST 2023 NEWSLETTER
 
Contentment and happiness. Are they one and the same? And how do these concepts fit into our Grow Mental Health program of recovery and growth? This month, we are very fortunate to have a lot of Grow group member input into our newsletter, along with news and updates for the month. We hope the following brings you happiness and contentment today!

As always, we would love to hear from you. You can reach us on our social media platforms and by email newsletter@grow.ie

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WHAT DO HAPPINESS AND CONTENTMENT
MEAN TO YOU?
We asked the Grow community what happiness and contentment mean to them and we are overwhelmed with the response we received. Thank you to Mary Walsh, National Volunteer Coordinator for sending out the call and to each and every person who responded. Enjoy!

To me, happiness and contentment can be found in the simplest of things. Listening to my children laugh or looking at an older couple and the respect and affection shown to each other. Sitting and having a cup of tea in the evening with my husband after we have had a busy day on the bog or the farm. Sitting and waiting for the GAA matches to start with my in-laws.

These things may not sound very exciting but they are simple and sometimes the simplest things are the nicest things.


I'm attaching a photo of a short book that I've read that really reiterates the simple things in life and it's well worth the short read.





Happiness and contentment are not sought directly. They steal in almost imperceptibly when we forget ourselves and are engaged in helping another. The recipe is self-giving without fuss. Leaving behind self-serving. It’s the work of a lifetime. It’s the pearl of great price.


I love rainbows and seeing them makes me happy. I read somewhere that rainbows appear more often in Ireland than anywhere else in the world, I think that rainbows are pure magic. They say that green is the colour of harmony and balance. Rainbows beaming across the green hills and fields of this little country of ours make it a beautiful, harmonious, and magical place to be.


Happiness and Contentment
What is happiness and contentment? To me, it is a state of Mind, Body, and Spirit when you are at peace with yourself and other people and also with a Greater Power or none. A big part of happiness is Love. Love is the strongest emotion and if you are in love with yourself, love other people, and share love you are truly happy and content. Love of anything is truly great also like a pet or a football team! (Program Book, page 89, “Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things and endures all things.”) To be in a strong, loving relationship then you are happy and content with that person. (P.B. Page 108, “All you need is love”)
 
I think that Spiritual happiness and contentment are important. You may like to read my story on the spiritual experience I had in early 1991 in the Stories of Hope and Recovery book, (Michael B's story, page 90). In that experience, I felt 100% Happiness and Contentment. People who believe in God or a Greater Power find solace in prayer and meditation either by themselves or in Church with other people. I pray to God for guidance and petitions. “Prayer will get you there”. That's a saying I have. I don't know how people who have no religious or spiritual beliefs cope though. Maybe through inner strength.
 
Thinking of the Joyful Highlights of your life in the past and bringing them to the present can be a positive experience for you. Maybe you were at a sporting match and your team won or you were on holiday and had great fun there. These memories can inspire you if you are feeling a bit down about yourself. At Grow meetings, you may like to share a good and humorous time in your life to make the group and yourself happy. Watching, listening to, or going to a comedy show can be a great way of increasing your happiness and contentment. I went to the late Brendan Grace's show with a friend a few years ago and he was great. He made me and my friend happy and content for days and weeks after the show. “Laughter is the best medicine”. There's nothing like telling a joke with Growers or other friends. I like telling jokes to people I know and don't know in general and it lightens up the night or day I meet them. I get great satisfaction from it and if they're happy, I'm happy.
 
Joyful Highlights can come in the form of education from yourself or a family member. You may have achieved an excellent result in exams or your son, daughter, or a relation may have also. All that hard work studying may have paid off and you got a certificate, diploma, master's, or even a PhD. Surely you will be very happy and feel contentment in achieving that. Any course you may have done or may do in the future in secondary school, college, or University or a FECTAC qualification is an excellent way of learning and progressing to good employment. I'm not saying that it is easy but it is rewarding. (P.B. Page 108 no. 88, “If the rough road gets you there and the smooth one doesn't, which one will you take?”
 
Being happy and having contentment at work is important. You may be a carpenter and use your tools to make a perfect piece and that would make you very happy if you pardon the pun. You may be a carer for someone you love and tenderly take care of their wants and needs and you get contentment from that. You might be self-employed, being your own boss, employing other workers and doing well in your business, and getting job satisfaction from the work you carry out. Happiness and contentment are there for you and for your employees. Being assertive at work is crucial. Getting your point across at work without upsetting others and yourself but in a balanced way between passive and aggressive is an important interpersonal skill and can help you to express yourself in a clear, open, and reasonable way without undermining yourself or others. (P.B. Page 44, Assertiveness) , (P.B. Page 45, “Raise your words, not your voice. It is rain that grows flowers, not thunder”). Communication is very important at work to get the job done in an appropriate way. Lack of communication at work only brings chaos and confusion. Achieving a wage or salary for work is, of course, important as well. I find cleaning at home very rewarding. It takes a while but I get great happiness and contentment from my house looking clean and tidy. It appears the place is shining each time I do it and as the old saying goes, “Cleanness is next to Godliness”. Unpaid work, volunteering, is an excellent way of working. We do a lot of volunteering work in Grow and also give time to charity work like Meals on Wheels or Concern fundraising for example. Usually, volunteer work is relaxed, and has no real pressure. I am a member of the Men's Shed locally and yes, we work but it is a social outlet as well. There are various jobs we do like woodwork or garden work but it's volunteer work and there's no pressure. I can take a break anytime I want. I get great happiness and contentment from the Men's Shed. There are Women's Sheds around the Country as well.
 
Sharing your happiness and contentment with Growers and other people is important but for some people, it may be difficult. In saying that, over the years I've been in Grow I have only met a very few members who found it hard to express their feelings. 2 or 3 to be honest. But that was their character and that's okay. (P.B. Page 104, no. 14, “All human beings are valuable”).
 
Happiness and contentment in Grow can be found especially at National and Regional Weekends. There's the serious side, that's the talks, but there is plenty of time to socialize. Recently, we had our Western Regional Weekend in Knock, Co. Mayo and I met up with familiar faces from around the region and some people from Dublin and Kilkenny. They and I shared stories and had a good laugh too. The music and dancing were great fun and I danced the two nights away at our music nights. That was outstanding! (P.B. Page 105, no. 19, “You owe yourself the love that you so freely give others”)
 
I'll finish up by saying always try to have happiness and contentment in your life. It may be a bumpy road sometimes and if is, turn to your fellow Growers and they will shine a light and you will be happy and content once more.
 
Thank you for reading my Story.


Contentment and happiness to me is:
To be able to carry and care for my two beautiful children and carry on memories of one I lost before birth.
 
To go through hell and back one too many times and come strong at the end while the road was hard and the trauma was still there.
 
To safely get out of a domestic abuse relationship and be alive today.
 
To go through a lot of childhood trauma and be the woman I am today.
 
To go from being homeless and in a woman's shelter for so many years on and off to having my safe, Happy home with my beautiful son.
 
To watch, help, and learn about my beautiful daughter's battle with mental health and see her get stronger. She is one incredible daughter and I am so proud of all the milestones she has achieved.
 
To be able to work and provide for my family.
 
To have my dog Bailey who I couldn't live without. The best therapy on four legs!
 
To losing my two beautiful sisters to suicide and living on in their memory.
 
To have my amazing incredible Grow family in Tuam and Galway and AC Alan by my side to support me and together show the world that mental health matters.
 
Finding so many people through Grow especially Area Coordinator Alan Keaveney, Communications Lead Sile Tracey, and from a Knock talk Father Stan and Mike Watts.
 
I am so grateful to get to wake up and live every day, one day at a time.

CHOOSE HAPPINESS & CONTENTMENT

Why choose to be happy and content? Do you want joy, peace, satisfaction, fulfilment, enrichment, living with a smile that reaches your eyes and so much joy in your heart that it overflows and has a positive effect on those around you?

When we struggle with our mental, emotional, physical, and spiritual health it seems that happiness and contentment are a far and distant land that we hope to reach someday, catching fleeting glimpses of it but never really holding on to it for very long and certainly not for as long as we would like. I believe that each and every one of us has the capacity to be happy and content no matter who we are or where we are in life. To be happy and content takes willingness, discipline, openness, and commitment and the reward is a beautiful renewed inner life of your choosing.

Here are the 4 A’s that can help you understand some key steps on your journey and grow to be a happier, stable, and enriched you.

1. AWARENESS
One of the greatest gifts we have as humans is our consciousness. To be aware of ourselves and the world around us. Sometimes it is difficult to pinpoint exactly what is troubling us. By sharing with your Grow group over time it becomes easier for you and your group to identify and understand those areas in our lives that we allow to steal our joy. Honesty is critical to the process, to be true to ourselves and acknowledge where we are at.

You are responsible for your own happiness. This statement may be challenging to accept. We tend to make excuses and try to hold other people or other factors responsible. Don’t give away your power to be happy and content to other people or things. The truth is that happiness and contentment grow from within you. When we stop looking to our external resources, relationships, and our circumstances we are free to cultivate the inner peace and the joy we seek.

Love. Most of us live with a harsh inner critic. Choose to love yourself and accept yourself exactly where you are now. You can’t give away what you do not have. By loving yourself you will increase your love for others too.

2. ATTITUDE
Live with an attitude of gratitude. Being grateful and enjoying what is in your life currently can have a very positive impact on your life. Our change in perspective on lack or loss can change how we feel regarding any circumstance. For example, something as simple as grumbling and complaining that the water coming out of your tap is not hot enough – change this way of thinking to be grateful that you have a tap with water coming out of it.

Be difficult to offend. We live in a world of difficult people who can inflict unnecessary hurt on others, either accidentally or sadly deliberately. Decide in advance how to stand and react positively to negative instances. Seeing the funny side when things go wrong can have a massive impact on your day. Forgiveness is powerful and will help you to resume quickly after a setback.

3. ACTION
Expect good things to happen. Our thoughts are powerful. Actively observe your thoughts. When you have thoughts of criticism, judgment, resentment, jealousy, or other negative thoughts, see them for what they are, mere thoughts. You do not have to agree with everything that falls into your head. Dismiss negative thoughts quickly and replace them with positive, healthy alternatives.

Practice patience. When out for a meal it's always the person who grumbles and complains that everything is taking so long that can ruin the evening! Test yourself to be gracious and practice patience and have an extra helping of patience spare for those who have not developed theirs.

Give. Think of how you can increase someone else’s joy. By getting your mind off yourself and onto how you can improve someone else’s day. It can be especially fun to see someone else’s face light up by your positive actions.
Remember to be generous with your smiles, compliments, time, etc. It doesn’t have to cost the earth.

Fun
. To have fun and play even as an adult can bring so much joy into your life. Look back over your life and recall those moments when you had the most fun and enjoyment. When invited to take part in any activity, consider it but try not to dismiss it out of hand. Try something new, gently breach the boundaries of your comfort zone.

Set Goals. Set short-term, achievable goals in your physical exercise, hobbies, travel, education, or other areas of your life that bring joy to you and help increase your self-esteem. You can take a Grow weekly task that can help towards setting goals. When achieved this can bring satisfaction and thus enrich your life.

4. ALTITUDE
LOOK BACK WITHOUT REGRET
LOOK AROUND WITHOUT ENVY
LOOK FORWARD WITHOUT FEAR
We all live with a shadow in our life. After all, we live on Earth not in heaven. By choosing to live on the sunny side of life our shadow will be cast behind us as we walk forward rather than blocking out the sunlight.
Happiness and contentment can bring very positives change to your life and health. You can decide daily to choose an ordinary and simple path towards being a better version of you. Building and growing an inner world that will ripple out positively to all those around you.

The only way is up to the dizzy heights of happiness and contentment.

GRATITUDE AND CONTENTMENT

Gratitude and contentment go hand in hand. So, the practice of gratitude will help contentment grow. One practice is before you go to sleep at night to note 3 things that you are grateful for that happened that day. Naturally, we are inclined to negative thinking. 


We have evolved for survival and its problems before happiness. However, gratitude is a seed that will grow if you nurture it. We can start to see and appreciate the little things, that before we never really noticed. The bumble bees visiting the lavender flowers, the sound of children playing in the distance, a friend calling you to see how you are. Once you start noticing you will notice little tiny joys, wonders, and miracles all around. Then you will not fail to notice and appreciate the bigger blessings.

Another version of the practice is to write or journal the daily things for which you are grateful. Taking the time to journal your gratitude gives the gratitude more weight. It gears you to see more gratitude. The very ritual of noting down gratitude shows your mind just how important gratitude is to you.

However, my favourite practice is to get into the habit of noticing the things to be grateful for in the moment. So, it helps you to be both positive and present. Less in your head with the troubles of the day. It grounds you in the here and now. The first cup of tea of the day, the sound of rain and wind on the window, sitting down with a good book. These moments are peppered throughout our day.

It's in the little things that contentment grows. It's not the big deals! It's not getting more money or a status job, or some big success. If contentment follows gratitude, peace follows on the coattails of contentment. With gratitude, you can be content and at peace even on a blue day!

Happiness V. Contentment 

Some days I’m like a briar, 
Some days I’m just tired, 
Happy and Content just retired. 
Happiness in disguise, comes as a pleasant surprise. 
Contentment, from the inner core. 
Happiness comes with a before and after. 
Contentment, with or without an event. 
Happiness, once more we cry, follow me. 
Contentment, ship to shore also flys. 
Happy a feeling richer be, 
Content a feeling longer felt. 
Happiness often sought through needs, 
Contentment from the lesser deeds. 
Happiness a higher form of contentment, 
Contentment any form of happiness. 
For all those who happiness seek, 
Be content for what greets you, 
The true measure of happiness, records differently. 
To let happiness go, is to be content. 
To be content, 
Is to let happiness back in our lives again. 
Happy we’d all like to be, 
Content sets us free.
 
 

ANNOUNCEMENT: GROW MENTAL HEALTH AGM
October 6, 2023

The next Grow in Ireland AGM will be held on October 6th in the Killeshin Hotel in Portlaoise. The purpose of the AGM is to allow the company members* to meet and discuss the annual report of the Board and CEO of Grow. The members present can ask questions, make comments, and in particular vote in elections of members to the Board of Grow. Company members are also eligible for election to the Board.



*What and who is a company member of GROW?

Members of the Company of Grow are mostly seasoned Grow group members who have, in some way given back to Grow by taking on voluntary duties eg. Organiser, Recorder, and Regional Team member. If you are interested in becoming a company member of Grow, contact a member of your Regional Team, Area Coordinator, or the Grow National Office 01-8408236 with your name and address. Alternatively, contact the Company Secretary at Grow in Ireland, 5 Forest Mews Forest Road, Swords Co Dublin K67 DX66.There are no obligations or duties associated with company membership but, as stated, you are entitled to attend and participate in the Grow Annual General Meeting.

 
 
EASTERN REGION DAY OUT
By Annabel, Grow Online Group Member

A really great day was had by all in Hazel House on Saturday 1st July!

We had a truly memorable day of fun, a bracing walk, woodwork, fabulous food, stories, and a sing-song. We had testimonies, chats, and loads of fun in Hazel House with the Eastern Region. John F. did a great job as compere for the day and Maureen and Ann told us their Grow Mental Health stories and testimonies beautifully. We were all talking about what amazing women they are all day. We were all so grateful to everyone who organised funding and the agenda and all who contributed to the day. Special thanks to Gerry Farrell and Hazel House for hosting this great event. It was a day we’ll never forget. 

 
 

KANTURK 30th CELEBRATIONS
By Noreen, Grow Area Coordinator, Southern Region

Kanturk Grow Group celebrated its 30th birthday on the 16th of July with a delightful Afternoon Tea in the old-world charm of the Cahernane House Hotel in Killarney. Amid beautiful sunshine, with wonderful views of Killarney National Park, a great afternoon of celebrations, laughter, chat, and fun was enjoyed by all. The scrumptious delights were served 






by the warm, friendly staff, whose smiles never faltered, despite numerous requests for more tea and coffee, as we enjoyed our very much prolonged “Afternoon Tea”. Our guest of honor was founding member Nora Daly, who along with the late Michael Linehan saw a need for a support group like Grow in the North Cork region. Nora secured a meeting room, free of charge, from the Sisters of Mercy and Grow commenced on the 16th of July 1993 in Kanturk. Nora spoke of the many challenges in starting a new group. These challenges, including attracting and retaining new members are still present 30 years later. Indeed Michael’s late wife was often obliged to make up the necessary numbers required to hold a meeting. “Settle for Disorder” was often the order of the day! Meeting rooms were not, what they are today, and Nora had to bring along her own teapot, cups, tea, and coffee on a weekly basis. However, despite this inconvenience, Nora was determined to develop Grow in Kanturk. The meetings grew from strength to strength under Nora’s leadership, and today there is a vibrant Grow peer support group with over nine very committed Growers who attend on a weekly basis.

Noreen O'Sullivan (Grow Area Coordinator) thanked everyone for coming and making the 30th celebrations such a day to remember. She thanked all the members for their commitment to Grow, for their weekly attendance, their support of each other, for developing 12th Step work, and the marvelous work they have done fundraising throughout North Cork. Noreen went on to say how important Grow was to a rural community such as Kanturk, where many services have been lost in recent years and praised their efforts in “Carrying the Message To Others In Need” and helping to dispel isolation within our towns and villages.

Noreen, on behalf of the Kanturk Group, extended a sincere, heartfelt THANK YOU to Nora firstly, for her amazing foresight in commencing Grow in a rural community and for her time and energy, which she gave so willingly and voluntarily for the past 30 years. Noreen applauded Nora's tireless determination in developing and sustaining the Group, her vast knowledge of the Program, but mostly her unending kindness, support, friendship, and care to both past and present members. Her ever-calm presence and friendly smile have, countless times, eased the anxiety of a first-time attendee.

Nora responded, thanking everyone for coming, and stating the “30 years had flown by” and though at times there were great challenges in sustaining the Group she enjoyed every minute of the 30 years. She spoke of how Grow had helped her in her own life, and the many great friends she made throughout the years. Nora spoke of the importance of the Group, and its members, that “Grow was not about one person” but the “peer support, and friendships available within the meeting”.

Many members thanked Nora also and were fulsome in their praise of her kindness and support shown to the Group. They went on to share what having Grow in their lives meant to them, with one member stating “It was like having a second family” and another member stating “It was a safe place to speak about issues, with total acceptance and no judgment”. Many spoke of how important their weekly meeting was to them, and the structure it gave to their week.

As a token of gratitude to Nora, the Group then made a presentation of a slate plaque designed and presented by our own resident artist Catherina, inscribed with the “Serenity Prayer” one of Nora’s much-loved pieces of the Program. We followed with a presentation of a beautiful bouquet of flowers by Eta.
All agreed it was a beautiful celebration of “Grow Friendship” and the afternoon ended with a rousing rendition of “She’s A Jolly Good Fella”.

 
 
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JOY IN THE PARK, CORK
by Finola O'Callaghan, Area Coordinator for Cork

Following on from the huge success of last year’s Joy In The Park mental health inauguration festival, this year’s event, in partnership with Cork Mental Health Foundation, was even bigger and better. Joy in the Park was conceived as a celebration of life, to highlight the importance of minding our mental health and wellbeing through bringing the community together and finding our Joy.
Cork’s Fitzgerald’s Park again played host for the second year running to this free, fun-filled, family day out, which showcased all of the local mental health supports and offered a wide range of activities for young people and upwards. An eclectic variety of live music, poetry, workshops, children’s entertainment, and wellness activities were on offer to the many attendees visiting this colourful event, alongside a range of delicious food stalls to whet the appetite.

Grow was on hand to provide information on our local and online meetings.  The Tree of Hope exercise was also featured, where individuals visiting the stand were encouraged to pick out one of the Grow wisdom cards and place it on the aptly named ‘Mirror Tree’, to best reflect the positive insight they had chosen.  This again proved to be one of the more popular activities and by the end of the afternoon, the magnificent Mirror Tree in Fitzgerald’s Park was adorned with Grow’s many wisdoms.

Regional Manager Mary Purcell and Grow Area Coordinators Noreen O’Sullivan, Jerry Cronin, and Finola O’Callaghan were all available to dispense Grow’s colourful merchandise. This was all painstakingly sourced and collated by Southern Region Administrator, Brenda Beausang, and consisted of an array of Grow literature, pens, balloons, sweeties, and information leaflets, all of which were distributed to the many interested callers to the stand over the course of the afternoon.  Other mental health organisations present on the day were SHINE, MyMind, Jigsaw, Shine A Light, Cork Counselling Services, Pieta and the Samaritans, helping to raise awareness for mental health and wellbeing and the importance of connection and community.

Excellent musical entertainment was provided by a range of amazing artists, including Karen Underwood and John Spillane who performed on the park’s John McCarthy stage.  Even the sun co-operated, making a welcome appearance for the majority of the afternoon, before giving way to torrential showers when the popular Cork Band, The Frank and Walters came on stage for the finale, although ‘The Frank & WATERS’ would have been more appropriate title, given the conditions they were performing in!

The day of course also coincided with the Limerick v Kilkenny All Ireland Hurling Championship, as it did last year, so Limerick native Mary Purcell was very torn, but extremely relieved at the result of Limerick’s victory.  If Limerick hope to have any chance of a  recurring successful outcome again next year, they’d best ensure that they check that it is held on the same date as the Joy In the Park Festival to make it FIVE in a row!

All in all, another fantastic festival and a credit to Joy’s family, friends and supporters to ensure that it was the resounding success that they’d hoped for and a wonderful tribute to Joy’s memory.
 
 
GET INVOLVED!
UPCOMING EVENTS AND OPPORTUNITIES

A fundraising hero!

Jass Mollens a member of Grow Mental Health's Tullamore Peer Support Group is going above and beyond in her efforts to embrace the Grow value of “change” in her life this Autumn.

With the support of her fellow Grow Group members, friends, and family, she has begun a weight loss journey in which she hopes to raise awareness and funds for Grow Mental Health as she passionately believes her attendance at her weekly meeting has brought her to a place of positive mental health.

Under the close supervision of her doctor, Jass has chosen to take a slow and steady approach to her weight loss goal. She like many others feels that her own mental health has been negatively impacted by her weight and mobility issues and she is looking forward to a healthier version of herself by Oct 10th of this year.

Step 3 of the 12 Step Grow Program, states “We took care and control of our bodies”, so this is where her group is focusing her attention through the weekly tasks they assign at each meeting.

Everyone in Grow Mental Health, from groups all over Ireland, wishes Jass the very best of luck and support on her mission. 

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A HAPPINESS HACK?
By John Madden, grow Area Coordinator, Midlands Region

Here comes the happy fella!

Hey, no one can be happy all the time--people would start to get suspicious. I don’t know if it’s a uniquely Irish thing, but we have an amazing love-hate relationship with happiness. As our own William Butler Yeats once penned, “Being Irish, he had an abiding sense of tragedy, which sustained him through temporary periods of joy.” We wish for happiness every single day, however, when it does come into our lives, at times, we fear even acknowledging it. The fear is that, if you do, it might disappear quickly. That might sound like magical thinking, but we’re all a little superstitious when we finally have something to lose. As a result, we tend to anticipate loss instead of celebrating wins. Maybe this sounds like a relatable situation: An old friend visits for a week, and you are thrilled but once they arrive you veer towards the negative thinking, “They’ll be gone in a few days, what will I do then?”

Sometimes it is as though we are afraid of admitting to being happy: “Sure, it’s grand,” or, “Could be worse,” are commonplace replies to “How are you?” I imagine it’s much the same across the globe, rarely does one hear, “Yes, really good, never been happier.” Most veer towards an indirectly negative answer without even realising it. In recent times, we hear the re-emergence of a term, especially in the era of fake news and media obfuscation, “If you hear a lie enough times, it becomes the truth.” 

Maybe some good can come from this idiom. If we tell ourselves that we are indeed, good, we can begin to believe it. Faking it until you make it is actually a reasonable coping strategy for winning happiness. I am not talking about daily affirmations; while they undoubtedly work for some, I can’t ever see myself waking up and repeating in my head, “Today is going to be a good day, you are the master of your own destiny,”  but I am talking about the words we use daily. Watch yourself over the next few days; when people ask you how you are, make a mental note of what you say. Are you giving thinly veiled negative responses like, “Ah, yeah, not too BAD”? If you are, stop. Be conscious of your words and change them up. Instead answer, “I’m good, and you?”  Only you can tell the difference, but give it a try and stick with it. When you do, you’re effectively changing the habits of a lifetime.  Our socio-cultural context creates a kind of pre-programming. But these pre-programmed responses do not exactly evoke any great feeling or inspiration. If anything, we should be promoting conversation and interaction, not shutting it down with glum responses. Any salesperson worth their salt will tell you that in Sales 101, you both ask and answer with open-ended statements to flesh out more information. It doesn’t have to be an interrogation or an investigation; idle chit-chat can release a few of those endorphins that can make a difference to a whole raft of people. 
SPECIAL NOTICES

GROW MENTAL HEALTH PODCAST
Our latest podcast explores the idea of friendship and takes a deep dive into the peer support model of recovery with Elaine Brown of Perspective.  https://grow.ie/grow-mental-health-podcast-friendship/




DAYS OF SIGNIFICANCE IN MAY
August 9th - International Day of the World's Indigenous Peoples
August 31st - International Overdose Awareness Day

STAFF GROW GROUP
Open to all staff members. (Attendance to be in your own time) weekly on Mondays @ 2 PM Contact Mary Walsh for the link: marywalsh@grow.ie

GROW OPEN GROUP

Online Grow Group meeting every Friday at 2 PM for any Grow member who might have missed their weekly Group, is looking for some extra support between meetings or would like to offer support to others. Contact Felicia: feliciablack@grow.ie

GROW ONLINE MEN'S GROUP
Meetings take place online on Tuesdays between 10:30 AM and 12 PM. Click here for more details.


Our Caring and Sharing Online Coffee Morning has been suspended for the summer months and will resume again in October. Watch this space!
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Grow in Ireland
Registered Charity Number: 200223294
33 Henry Street, Limerick, Ireland
Information Line: 0 818 474 474
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