‘50808’ is a first of its kind for Ireland, a free 24/7 text service, providing everything from a calming chat to immediate support for people going through a mental health or emotional crisis. Crisis Volunteers are available 24/7 for anonymous text conversations. The aim is to provide immediate support in the short term and connect people to resources that will help them in the future.
Live-saving, innovative 24/7 text service launches in Ireland
Doireann Garrihy launches the service via a Zoom event with Simon Harris TD, Minister for Health, Jim Daly, Minister for Mental Health and Anne O’Connor, Chief Operations Officer HSE.
Anne O'Connor, Chief Operations Officer, HSE, said “The impact of this pandemic will be different for all of us and while not everyone will need mental health support, for those that do it’s important to have a variety of services that meet those needs. Picking up the phone and asking for help can appear daunting, but texting 50808 will connect you to a trained listening Crisis Volunteer. Parallel to this important service, the HSE, through our Psychosocial Response Project, is aligning the different levels of supports that are available online, by phone and text to improve accessibility to mental health resources for those who might be struggling at this time."
45 out of the 326 fully trained volunteers are HSE employees.