M&S and Jigsaw partnership delivers over 3,000 therapeutic appointments in Donegal

In Donegal, more than 3,000 therapeutic appointments have been provided to young people in the past year as a direct result of the partnership between M&S and youth mental health charity Jigsaw. 

This milestone highlights the real, local impact of the collaboration, which is marking its first anniversary this week.

The M&S and Jigsaw partnership, launched in June 2024 under the banner "Together we've got this," aims to raise capacity, reach, and accessibility of mental health supports for young people across Ireland. In its first year, the partnership has raised over €150,000, enabling Jigsaw to expand its services, reduce waiting times, and reach more young people than ever before.

The partnership, under the banner "Together we've got this," has focused on increasing the capacity, reach, and accessibility of youth mental health services nationwide. One of the most significant achievements has been the rollout of Jigsaw’s new ‘Single Session First’ (SSF) model of care.

SSF offers young people a focused, one-off session designed to provide immediate support and strategies for their current challenge, with follow-up available if needed. This approach has reduced average wait times for young people seeking help from 11 weeks to eight weeks. Notably, 21 per cent of young people were seen within four weeks, and nearly 41 per cent had their first session within 8 weeks - ensuring faster access to vital support.

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Beyond direct appointments, the partnership has: delivered over 38,000 appointments to nearly 9,000 young people nationwide, with over 3,430 of these in Donegal alone; assisted over 310,000 people through jigsaw.ie, offering information, advice, and Live Chat support; supported 6,238 individuals through community mental health workshops and training and delivered mental health training to more than 1,685 people via Corporate Wellbeing programmes (including M&S staff) and to 2,022 sports coaches through Jigsaw’s One Good Coach eLearning course

Fundraising and awareness initiatives over the past year have included the launch of the M&S Charity Champions engagement, in-store and online fundraising, staff participation in the Dublin Marathon Walk and Four Peaks Challenge, and the ‘What I do for me’ campaign for World Mental Health Day. 

Local Jigsaw representative, Damien Coyle, said: “With the support of M&S, we have offered over 3,000 therapeutic appointments to the young people of Donegal in the last 12 months. Alongside this, we have worked together to grow awareness of our services and supports and help ensure no young person across the county feels alone and forgotten. The local M&S team here in Letterkenny have been so supportive and we are hugely grateful for all they have done, and all we plan to do over the coming years.” 

Laura McMonagle, Store Manager at M&S Letterkenny, said: “We are incredibly proud to see the difference our partnership with Jigsaw is making here in Donegal. Every day, our colleagues and customers show just how much they care about supporting young people’s mental health. 

“It’s inspiring to know that our fundraising and awareness efforts are helping more than 3,000 young people in our community access the support they need, when they need it most.”

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Building on the success of these initiatives, M&S is delighted to announce the launch of a special edition Jigsaw charity bouquet, now available in stores nationwide. Priced at €10, with €1 from every sale directly supporting Jigsaw, this vibrant bouquet is more than just a beautiful floral arrangement - it is a symbol of hope and support for youth mental health in Ireland.

This bouquet, featuring a vibrant mix of Rucco baby blue, yellow Moonwalk roses, red snapdragons, cerise Aqua germini, lemon germini, and cerise L50 roses, is thoughtfully wrapped in compostable packaging. It offers customers a tangible way to contribute to Jigsaw’s vital work, helping M&S and Jigsaw work towards their shared goal of raising €350,000 over three years and reaching 1.5 million young people and their families by 2026.