Marks & Spencer (M&S) has announced a three-year partnership with Jigsaw, Ireland’s leading youth mental health charity.
This partnership aims to raise capacity, reach, and accessibility of the help available to young people across Ireland struggling with their mental health through a series of fundraising and awareness initiatives.
Through colleague and customer donations, as well as dedicated fundraising campaigns, M&S aims to raise €350,000 for Jigsaw over the next 3 years. Jigsaw’s ambition is to reach 1.5 million young people and their families with access to mental health support and services in that time.
This support will improve their understanding of mental health, drive awareness of available services and help break down barriers that prevent them from seeking support.
M&S will support the partnership with fundraising, in-store point-of-sale materials, radio and social media campaigns.
The partnership aims to help fund Jigsaw’s mission to reach 1.5 million young people and their families by 2026, offering trusted and crucially important mental health supports and services. These supports will increase their mental health literacy, drive awareness of the services available to them, and break down barriers that stop them from seeking support.
According to a report issued in May 2023, titled “A Piece of My Mind” by the Ombudsman for Children’s Office (OCO), almost 30% of children rate their mental health as 'not good' and need help to manage it.
The report, which surveyed 2,166 children aged between 12 and 17, found that more than four in 10 children who availed of mental health services reported that it “did not deal with their problem or the cause of their difficulty”, highlighting the urgent need for accessible and effective mental health support for young people.
“At M&S, we believe in the power of community and the importance of supporting our youth. Jigsaw’s mission to ensure every young person in Ireland has their mental health valued and supported aligns perfectly with M&S’ values. We know how much the mental health of young people matters to both our customers and colleagues,” said Eddie Murphy, Country Director for Marks & Spencer Ireland and Northern Ireland.
“No young person should feel alone, and no adult should feel lost when they want to help. That's why we're working together with Jigsaw to make an impactful difference. We are hugely impressed by the work Jigsaw does and inspired to walk side by side to make a real difference in the lives of young people,” he continued.
M&S donations will support the charity’s new initiative, Jigsaw Connect, which is an integrated and digital suite of mental health services, accessed through Jigsaw.ie, that provides a variety of supports for young people experiencing a range of mental health difficulties.
Speaking on the partnership Dr. Joseph Duffy, CEO at Jigsaw said, “This partnership with M&S is huge for Jigsaw and for youth mental health in Ireland. As we continue to see a surge in demand for our mental health services, it is so important that young people across Ireland know that we stand by them. This partnership with M&S makes that possible. Jigsaw and M&S share a joint ambition for supporting youth mental health and wellbeing in Ireland, and together, we believe this unique partnership affords us the opportunity to spread more awareness, to raise more funds and to drive more change.”
Mike Mansfield, Director of Communications and Fundraising at Jigsaw added, “Everyone at Jigsaw can’t wait to start working with M&S staff and customers across Ireland – together, we can ensure young people are connected to their community and have easy-to-access support to help them navigate through the tough times in their young lives."
To kick off the partnership, M&S staff will host a 26-mile marathon walk on the 7th of June, starting at M&S Liffey Valley and culminating on M&S Grafton Street. Along the route, participants will engage with various M&S stores and Jigsaw locations. Each store across the country will also host unique fundraising activities beginning on the same day.
This initiative aligns with M&S UK partnership with YoungMinds - a mental health charity for children, young people and their parents - reflecting a shared commitment to youth mental health across both regions.
