jigsaw

Jigsaw gives young people a voice, and we put them at the centre of changes to support youth mental health. We practise what we preach through our youth panels.

Our youth panels are involved in strategy and decision making at all levels. They represent Jigsaw, for example to government ministers, and take part  in all important decisions, such as staff recruitment. They hold us to account, and make sure that Jigsaw projects deliver services and changes that are relevant to young people, and their lives.

Headstrong Youth Advisory Panel

Jigsaw's parent organisation, Headstrong, has an active national Youth Advisory Panel (YAP). YAP members  speak at public events, represent Headstrong to the media, advocate for change locally and take part in local and national projects. If you are aged between 15 and 25 years and would like to find out more about how you could get involved, please contact our Youth Participation Officer James, at james@headstrong.ie

Jigsaw project youth panels

All the Jigsaw projects have included young people from the start.  The youth panels help represent young people in their local area, they make decisions that help shape the projects, and promote Jigsaw in the community. Without their involvement there could be no Jigsaw.

Says Mary Ann, Chair of the Galway Youth Advisory Panel, “The Youth Panel is involved in every aspect of Jigsaw; we offer our opinions and ideas on all realms of the service. It was our job on the Youth Panel to ensure a youth friendly, non-judgemental and welcoming service that young people would feel comfortable using.”

The members of the youth panels across the Jigsaw projects all get a lot out of the experience too. Mary Ann says “My confidence in my own abilities has been greatly improved, which I think stems from not being afraid to express my opinions and ideas as I know that they will be taken seriously.”

Find out more about how you can get involved with the youth panels at Jigsaw Galway, Jigsaw Kerry, Jigsaw Meath, Jigsaw Roscommon.