 Concert is a variety concert actually and it's to Mark World Mental Health Day, on the 10th of October every year we're invited just to reflect on our own mental health and also that of people in our lives, our families and friends and the wider community. So this year there's a variety concert in Angrenan and this is going to focus on the ways that we all use to take care of our mental health and well-being. And I'm delighted to Bill Vaughan who works with Mental Health Ireland and is hosting the concert, joins us now in the studio and we're streaming online as well. Bill, good afternoon to you sir. Good afternoon John and thanks very much for having me. It's great to come in and be able to chat about it. You've taken on, this is quite the job you've taken on here, a variety concert you think oh that'll be grand until you actually set about you know going down through the bill and getting everything in place but you've quite the variety in here. Well it's funny just exactly what you say this was an idea in my head and I was sitting at the desk, at the desk with health promotion staff and I was sitting to Anne McIntyre who got you know out the mental health day coming up I would love to do this and Anne said god that sounds great you know we'll back you mental health promotion you know we'll go towards that you know with the help of the finance and that. So suddenly it becomes a reality and then you've got to get your sleeves rolled up. That's it you got to put the work and then an idea is great but putting it into practice then is once the real work starts. And putting on an event you know that's attractive and fits the bill I suppose the challenge. Yeah well for you know working on mental health Ireland that's that's our big month is October and world mental health day just down over the years I see it as you know one of the big days of the year for all of us really. A focal point. A focal point to to to be able to kind of shine the torch on what's what's most important is our own self-awareness and looking after ourselves and you know if we compare it to to cars maintaining cars we need to service cars and most of us are fairly good at that well we have to be with the MOT and that NCT but but we can take the eye off the bone it comes looking after our own well-being and wait until then something goes wrong and then it's to the GPs and hopefully they'll figure it out whereas you know we have we have it within our own capacity to to do a lot more for looking after ourselves on a daily basis and that's what this concert focuses on is the the the fun around that the joy around prioritizing your own overall well-being but the challenge I find working in the mental health field is not to spoon feed people to tell them that this is what they should be doing because none of us like words like should you should be doing that you need to be doing that you know we all just switch off whereas the challenge with this kind of event is how do how do I attract people into wanting to go to this event you know because mental health to me is like like gold you know self-awareness the more you get into to the whole area of self-awareness looking after yourself you and if you speak to people who have overcome challenges around all kinds of mental health issues they will talk about finding an inner peace nothing changes in the outside their life goes on but they cope better and they appreciate the simple things in life better you know you said that we all are most of us have the the capacity to to change things when it comes to our mental health and change things for the better if we find ourselves you know feeling particularly low or we find that our mental health is suffering sometimes the biggest challenge is just realizing that we have it within us to change things yeah yeah and and that we have that we have the tools we have might well have the capacity but we're in just such a situation that you just we just we can't see that yeah yeah I believe we came into this world with the tools we need to after ourselves some people call it your spirit some people call it just wisdom and as we grow up we get distracted away from all that you know life's interesting technology is getting faster and faster and more smart so it's very easy to be drawn away into the world around us but if we if we disconnect too much from that inner wisdom that's where the problems start that's where mental health issues can become a problem why is it such a big issue these days why why why how is it that you know when you roll back the clock 20 or 30 years were those issues always there was it was it as as big a problem in society as as it is now or have things changed over the years and is there is it just it's just the life the life that a lot of people live is it just because of maybe technology or our surroundings or the pressure that we're all under but what is it you you work in you work in the area so so what is it what are the common issues what's brilliant about working in the area is firstly and passionate about the whole thing and secondly I can only give you my my kind of views on on such a big question John because because we all have our own inner world gone on our own thoughts and you know to answer you know how life's moving on life's changing you know are we better off now than say our our grandparents were growing up our parents our parents you know there's you know everyone will have a different opinion on that one thing I do kind of notice is if I'm going around sometimes I would go around and do workshops at that in old people's homes in that and if I asked the question of you know the more mature people shall we say parents I would say in over 60 even asked him would are they would they prefer to be young like a teenager now or are they happy enough with where they were as a teenager most would say they were happy enough with where they were they would look at life now for young people more complicated more challenging more exactly more complicated and that that has to impact on how we manage you know if like going back to the car analogy if a car hasn't been well looked after something's going to happen you know be it the time it was going to give yeah and and we are we're living on a fast pace world now I think much faster than the generation before and even more so when you go back east generation and wisdom wisdom moves at a slow pace technology moves at an exponential pace so you know there there's a disconnect between our inner world and our feelings and stuff like that and our cognitive our kind of keeping up to date with day to day technology and stuff and we love all that there's nothing wrong because you talked there about having just a bit of time to reflect and maybe they didn't call it reflection back in the day but with things moving at such a pace now we often just don't get that time we don't get that time to ourselves for us before you did whether it was maybe walking or cycling from a to b or whether it was when you know there was people a wager in the day and then you had the house to yourself and there wasn't there wasn't a tv maybe or there certainly wasn't a mobile phone so you just had a bit of extra time yeah yeah and you could be standing just doing the dishes but you were you were thinking yet you know yeah and uh communities uh relied on each other more if i think of the farming community uh when it when it came to the different uh jobs that needed done over the year it was shared you know whatever machinery it was it was shared uh before then when there was no machinery it was all hands to the pump so you know one week would be down to one farm all community would be there so when that would be happening you you kind of lives were shared more and it was it was harder to hide your own thoughts you know your own inner world so there was there was a kind of healthiness to that too i'm not saying it was all and Moses back then well there was more more of an opportunity to be part of a community and to share and be part of a collective whereas now it's all all too easy to avoid any of that yeah and and and especially like in rural Ireland thinking about you know out in rural communities yeah and another fascinating thing that i remember picking up during work over the last few years i used to i used to work in McGilligan prison and talking about one of the prison prison officers are about changes over the years uh he he worked in MacGabrie which would be a more serious prison in the north and back in the political times he was saying one of the biggest changes socially that happened in prisons was when they brought in the enhancements the enhancement system were if prisoners behave themselves they were able to get a television into into their cells before the televisions were allowed the network the communication between the prisoners and the two main groups the Catholic and Protestant groups was superb so if they if they decided right we're going to kick off tonight everyone knew when everyone was involved and stuff like that once the televisions came in all that broke down all communication broke up because fella said do you know what i'm watching champions league tonight well doesn't champion league spectacular but you know they were more interested in being entertained than what you know been involved in community that and where television is fantastic that's just one small example of how technology can you know it's like even putting together this concert one of my biggest anxieties oh yeah is anyone going to come the concert is anyone going to come to the concert i'm glad you're reminding me that's what that's what you're here for anyhow so tell us um the lineup uh first of all there's a there's a talk with fergus cleary fergus cleart and fergus is fantastic he has done so much for mental health and donnie gall in his unique way not just donnie gall you know we're thinking we're meaning all that there so fergus will just do his thing chat away you can listen to him he's a good rack and tear he's he can tell a story and he's he's he listens absolutely sister helen kelly i don't know if you know her her job uh she's from donnie gall town should be one of the kelly's the the builder okay and donnie gall and helen again has done fantastic work she used to work with parents stop up up here they were based in leta kenney but they worked within the county and helen again is one of these people who uh you could listen to all day when it comes to speaking about wisdom and speaking about self-care she's she's done workshops for for us through uh health promotion and you just come out feeling energized so i'm doing an interview with helen uh on the night we have some brilliant music by michael glespy and zarren签omer and um danny brazlin daniel brazlin okay great i don't know if he's anything to yourself i know no no no no listen so uh they're my house band you know like all all these chat shows now you have to have your resident houseband I say that tongue-in-cheek because they're far too good you know and I'm lucky to get them and then the proceeds are for the wellness cafes so we're we're going to get a google box version of the audience will be able to just see what happens at the cafe then the wellness cafes throughout Donegal so they're going to be like a fly on the wall looking at a wellness cafe happening on stage we also have a fashion slot as well around you know feel good well you know the connection between fashion and feel good hell not risk we'll be doing that okay great and a couple of fiddle players to boot well you you have put on most certainly a variety concert in in the true sense of the word and just to remind people that the money's going to Donegal wellness cafes the network and they're they're dotted about all over the place and just look at the map here Falkara be doored and load and Fana he letter Kenny Finn Valley Donegal town Downings remelton Lyford Bunkrana Plummanee Cairndonna and Movil and they're different days and different times and different weeks sometimes every other week sometimes every fortnight but and more information obviously online if you if you want to go along to one of those wellness cafes great place just if you want to come along for a chat okay I go down I go down to the the one and green in theater in the cafe there when I can and it is it's like going it's like going into the have a pit stop it's there's no judging it's it's very informal and you just build up some great friendships okay all right then a reminder of the the date for this it's this coming Monday and it's eight o'clock in and green in theater and the great thing about it is the tickets are more than reasonable just a five reach yes and again that's thanks to some of the promoters health promotion HSE the council I've come in as well a healthy Donny Gawls section of the council have come in with funding as well which I really appreciate and again John thanks again for this opportunity here to no bother and good luck with it thanks there's never been a better time to go full lethal let's hear it from our customers and they have really yummy food so they've all the good stuff actually they do I'd say like