About
Walk in My Shoes (WIMS) is the flagship awareness-raising and education campaign of St Patrick’s Mental Health Services (SPMHS).
We were first established in 2012 when a young man in SPMHS said he wished his friends could walk in his shoes to understand how he was feeling. Since then, thousands of students and teachers from across Ireland have gotten involved, and have been at the forefront of starting a very important conversation about mental health.
We run a number of campaigns and events throughout the year to promote positive mental health, and there are tonnes of ways that teachers and students can get involved, spark conversation, tackle stigma and foster wellbeing.
Key activities
We work to promote positive mental health, to tackle mental health stigma and to change how people, particularly young people, think about mental health.
We offer free wellbeing resources for:
- young people
- parents and guardians
- primary school and secondary school teachers to use in the classroom.
Throughout the year, we run:
- school achievement awards to recognise excellence in mental health promotion
- short film competitions to tackle stigma
- Transition Year placements
- our #MindYourSelfie Day social media campaign
- week-long programmes of online activities and pop-up radio stations.
We also host our School Portal, the first of its kind in Ireland, which gives primary and secondary schools nationwide the opportunity to capture and share the great work they’re doing to promote mental health and wellbeing in their classrooms and school communities.
WIMS is a campaign of SPMHS. SPMHS is a registered charity; its Registered Charity Number (RCN) is 20000370.