Saturday will be a red letter day for the people of Craigavon and beyond with the official opening of a new community hub by a charity which has been reaching out and offering a vital lifeline to people who need it when they need it most.
“We’re a charity by status but a family at heart,” insists Just A Chat founder and CEO Conor Hegarty, and his words could not ring more true.
For those who have availed of the services – of which there are many – have given back by stepping up to help others in times of crisis.
The new community hub is based at Legahory Shopping Centre in Craigavon, with a very special morning of events and opportunities lined up from 11am to 1pm.
The opening is the culmination of four years of working in the local community, by a group of like-minded individuals who want nothing more than to be there, to be that listening ear, that strong shoulder to lean on, that safe haven.
Conor, who is inviting all to come and join them on Saturday morning, recalled how the need for Just A Chat came sharply into focus when they encountered a young man standing on a bridge in distress.
The reality that people are suffering and are often too afraid to reach out drove them onwards and to where they are today.
The need was also realised as a “result of our own experiences in life, in terms of mental health”.
Conor told Armagh I: “The more we looked into things the more we realised how hard it was to access support. We wanted to start off almost like a signposting charity to help people go between the lines and get support.
“It’s just grown year by year and now people rely on us directly for support through all the different stuff that we do. We do workshops, we go into schools, youth clubs, groups, football clubs, you name it.
“And we provide mental health workshops based on confidence or bullying, social media, just general mental health, whatever it is they need based on that age.
“As well as that, we have a men’s room, which is a group for men to come and talk openly in a safe place and get everything off their chest and get support from everybody else in the room. We’ve got a women’s wellness group as well, which is the same basically. You’ve a safe place for women to go out and seek that support.
“We’ve got a charity football team too and we’ve got close to 100 members. These are guys that have come from every background you can think of, like addiction, gambling, suicide, depression, anxiety, you name it, the boys are involved in it. We play all over Northern Ireland, 11-a-side matches against other charities and groups.
“With Just A Chat, we also work with a lot of other local charities, counselling agencies and things like that, and we can actually get people into counselling very quickly because we work with so many of them. So instead of going down the NHS route and waiting lists for months and months, if they go through us, we can get people into counselling in a few days or a week in some cases.
“It’s kind of our tagline that we’re a charity by status but a family at heart. Just A Chat is run by our members, by our community, and whatever they need we try and facilitate.”
The organisation has grown so much in such a relatively short space of time.
The new Just A Chat community hub in Craigavon.
And the real difference it makes in the local community has been recognised at all levels, even leading another local charity to commit funding to allow the dream of a permanent home to become a reality with the opening of this new hub.
“It was volunteer-led up until a few weeks ago and we secured funding from the GiG Foundation, which is a new charity that’s been set up,” explained Conor. “We’re now able to have two full-time people. We were operating over capacity for so long. They have seen what we do in the community and they came on and wanted to fund us and help us grow.
“We now have two employees and the rest are all volunteers, but a lot of our volunteers are people who have come directly from the support that we give. So everyone you see that’s volunteering or holding buckets, they’ve come through the ranks with Just A Chat and they’ve found their own personal wellbeing journey with us.”
While based in Craigavon, Just A Chat operates right across the Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon borough.
“ Anywhere that we can go, we’ll offer our services,” said Conor. “But our community hub that we’re opening this weekend is based in the heart of Craigavon.
Taking part in a workshop with a local club.
“This is our first spot. We’ve already been operating out of it, offering our workshops and our men’s groups and women’s groups. So far the feedback we’ve got is absolutely fantastic and it’s the perfect area because it’s directly opposite the Brownlow Health Centre.”
Just A Chat has had the keys to its ‘home of our own’ for around three or four weeks and the team have been busy decorating and preparing it ahead of Saturday’s official opening.
As is tradition on such occasions, an official ribbon-cutting is due to take place at around 11.15am.
A host of visitors are expected to attend, with plenty of activities lined up and the chance to speak to others and learn more about what Just A Chat can offer.
“We would partner with Glenavon Football Club and some of their directors and footballers are coming down,” added Conor. “We have a load of local MLAs coming down. We’ve got the Deputy Lord Mayor coming down.
“We have an ice-cream truck, food, balloons, giveaways, a DJ, face-painters, we’ve got characters going about for the kids as well.
“We also have a lot of the local businesses that have supported us on our four-year journey coming down, local schools, principals…it’s almost like a showcase so that people can come in and mingle with others in the community and sort of network and see exactly what we’re about, what the hub’s about, what it can offer, how they can avail of it.”
And avail of it they do – and will – thankfully so.
For without doubt, Just A Chat has made a real impact in the community it serves and is continuing to do so.
“It’s saving lives,” said Conor. ” It’s directly saving lives and we can show that result from the people that’s in the group.
“A lot of our football team and our community and our members will be down on the day and they’re there to showcase what Just A Chat is for them.
“We would get on average about five or six people a week reaching out for some form of support or to join our groups. We’re looking to have this community hub open every single night, for addiction groups, support groups.
“We had an ADHD group just this week and it was an incredible success. There was 26 people down to it. And people are looking us to put on more things like that so that’s what we’re trying to do.
Participants in a memorial tournament held by Just A Chat each year for George Hobbs, a local man who lost his life through suicide.
“We’re trying to raise awareness of support that’s out there. If there’s a situation in the area that’s lacking support we will try and provide that. We will get people in for that or we will facilitate it ourselves.”
In terms of the actual hub, the logistics of opening times and activities have yet to be finalised.
But rest assured, no call for help will ever go unanswered.
As Conor explained: “On our front window, we have a QR code which you can scan for immediate support, so even if the community hub’s closed, there will be access to support.
“ We haven’t got a plan for our opening hours yet until we get this up and running and then once we discuss with everyone – we’re expecting a bit of an influx in the next two weeks – what the facility is going to offer.
“That’s whenever we’ll launch our programme. It’ll be pretty much like a men’s group every week, women’s group every week, another support group, whether it’s addictions anonymous, you know, all things like that.
“We have already got some community partners. We already work with a local mums group that are looking to use our facilities on a Monday afternoon. It’s things like that, that we want to make sure that every part of the community’s getting met, every area that’s needed is getting met.”
Signage in place at the new hub.
Conor said all are more than welcome to come along to the official opening and, if not able to, nobody should ever feel afraid to reach out to the team at any other time.
“We want to get across how important events like this are, just to come down on your own terms and meet people that have been through the process, that have sought support and come out the other end,” he added.
“It’s okay. It’s nothing to be ashamed of with asking for help. A lot of our people that we’ve supported are thriving, in new jobs, relationships, kids, everything. It’s something that we’re trying to promote more and more.
“It’s just that stigma we want to break; we don’t really want to break it, we want to smash it.
“We’re going to have all our people there on Saturday. Every time we’re out with our own people, people come over and ask, ‘What is Just A Chat?’, and we always tell them to go and talk to the people who’ve been through it rather than us. Because that’s the real definition. They’ll tell you exactly what they get.
“We always say in our workshops and support that if you don’t have somebody out there to lean on, let us be that person, let us be that group. Let us walk that journey with you.”
