Mayo student honoured as Mental Health Ambassador after completing TY programme
Mount St Michael student Amy Taveras was recognised at a graduation ceremony celebrating more than 100 youth mental health advocates
A Mayo secondary school student has been recognised as a mental health ambassador after graduating from a national Transition Year programme aimed at promoting wellbeing and reducing stigma.
Amy Taveras, a student at Mount St Michael Secondary School, Claremorris, graduated from the TY Programme run by St Patrick’s Mental Health Services at a recent ceremony celebrating more than 100 students who completed the 2025/2026 initiative.
Coordinated through Walk in My Shoes, a national campaign focused on positive mental health among young people, the programme equips students with practical skills to promote mental wellbeing and encourage open conversations around mental health.
Delivered across five programmes during the academic year, the four-day initiative gives students opportunities to deepen their understanding of mental health, challenge stigma and develop communication, confidence and peer-support skills through workshops, discussion and reflective learning.
Participants also engage directly with mental health professionals, service users and organisational leaders, gaining insight into the operation of mental health services and hearing lived experiences of recovery.
Activities include observing a mock multidisciplinary team meeting involving psychiatrists, psychologists, occupational therapists, nurses, pharmacists and social workers.
Speaking at the graduation ceremony, programme lead Rebecca Gaynor congratulated students graduating from the initiative, describing them as ambassadors for mental health returning to schools and communities with new skills and understanding.
“The Transition Year programme gives students a fantastic opportunity to learn from frontline staff about what it’s like to work in mental healthcare, while also giving them insight into the experiences of those with mental health difficulties,” she said.
The 2025/2026 academic year marks 15 years since St Patrick’s Mental Health Services launched the TY programme in 2011, with approximately 1,500 students completing the initiative to date.
The organisation said plans are underway to further expand the programme through a large-scale mental health promotion project being co-created with current and former participants.
Applications for the 2026/2027 TY programme are now open, with further details available through Walk in My Shoes.