An Omagh man has set up free weekly walk-in mental health sessions for those in the town.
SOLACE, the social support group set up by Andy Campbell from the Co Tyrone town, aims to provide a safe space for those in the area to have a chat and interact with others.
This week the group ran an event to mark World Mental Health Day with a twilight walk and run, and Andy says now it is more important than ever for people to keep on top of their mental health.
"It started with a few of us getting together for a coffee one Friday morning just to get ourselves out of the house for an hour," Andy told MyTyrone.
"It came about due to the lack of support from the statutory agencies on the ground. Mental health services were supposed to be exempt from restrictions as they were deemed essential during the lockdown but for those affected on the ground, many had no-one to turn to.
"Helplessness and loneliness in the middle of all this was frustrating so we came to the idea and conclusion that if no-one else was going to help, we were going to have to help ourselves and this is how SOLACE come about."
Andy's drive to help others comes from his own mental health battles, after he was hospitalised following an overdose.
"To this day I can't pinpoint what happened that day to make me want to do that," he said.
"I had a loving family, a loving wife and people around me that cared for me. Even after spending a few days in hospital, I still had to fight for help through my doctor to see a psychiatrist.
"Only recently I was diagnosed with a personality disorder, and emotional instability for the last 10 years, so that was yet again something that I had to come to terms with."
The main aim of SOLACE is for people from the area to get together so they can speak about their own experiences and help others, Andy added.
"As the weeks have went on more people are becoming aware of the group and the support is starting to grow. Some of the local businesses have come on board to support us financially and practically," he said.
"At present our sessions are a drop in coffee morning and evening, where people can drop in for a cuppa and chat and they have that safe environment. If anything is bothering anyone, they can speak to us about it.
"We are by no means medically trained but we all have our own experience of mental health and will do our best to point people on the right direction for help."
