Podcast: Teen Launches Awareness Campaign
The fourth episode of the Bernews podcast features an interview with a 15-year-old student who is launching a campaign to raise awareness of mental illness.
15-year-old Jackie Costello has seen first hand the effects of mental illness – her uncle suffered from paranoid schizophrenia — and said she wants to “give back and help people like him who are almost downgraded because of their illness.”
Now the Somersfield Academy student has organised an event, called Standing Together Against the Stigma, at the school on Sunday, November 15 from 3.00pm to 5.00pm. It is open to everyone in Bermuda and all are welcome.
Jackie said: “Throughout my life I have seen my uncle struggle, and then overcome and get knocked down again and have to fight again. I wanted to give back and help people like him who are almost downgraded because of their illness.
“Everyone at the school thinks it is really great. There has not been an event like this for all the different generations,” Jackie added.
“People have told me it is a great event, how they can relate to it and how they have a history of mental illness in their family.”
Money raised from the event, which will take place this coming Sunday, will go to the Bermuda Mental Health Foundation.
You can also download the episode in MP3 format here, you can view past Podcasts here, and you can also subscribe via iTunes to download episodes directly to your phone or tablet.
This is a remarkable human interest story for Bermuda about living with mental illness.
This bright young advocate is speaking what for many of us is the unspeakable and inviting our community into the conversation in a powerful and generous way. I hope she is well supported and her voice continues to be strong as she matures. I applaud her for bringing this into the public domain.
Very encouraging and I wish her well in her support of the Bermuda Mental Health Foundation.
Very encouraging,,,,all of us should be concerned about mental illness because it touches us all,directly or indirectly.Best of luck to this bright young mind for embarking on this mission and all of their supporters.!