More than 38,000 therapeutic appointments have been delivered to nearly 9,000 young people across Ireland in the first year of the partnership between M&S and youth mental health charity Jigsaw—a milestone that demonstrates the tangible impact of this collaboration. Since launching in June 2024, the partnership has raised over €150,000 and enabled Jigsaw to expand its range of supports, reduce waiting times, and reach more young people than ever before.
The partnership, under the banner "Together we've got this," has focused on increasing the capacity, reach, and accessibility of youth mental health services nationwide. One of the most significant achievements has been the rollout of Jigsaw’s new ‘Single Session First’ (SSF) model of care.
SSF offers young people a focused, one-off session designed to provide immediate support and strategies for their current challenge, with follow-up available if needed. This approach has reduced average wait times for young people seeking help from 11 weeks to 8 weeks. Notably, 21% of young people were seen within 4 weeks, and nearly 41% had their first session within 8 weeks—ensuring faster access to vital support.
Beyond direct appointments, the partnership has:
- Assisted over 310,000 people through jigsaw.ie, offering information, advice, and Live Chat support
- Supported 6,238 individuals through community mental health workshops and training
- Delivered mental health training to more than 1,685 people via Corporate Wellbeing programmes (including M&S staff) and to 2,022 sports coaches through Jigsaw’s One Good Coach eLearning course
Fundraising and awareness initiatives over the past year have included the launch of the M&S Charity Champions engagement, in-store and online fundraising, staff participation in the Dublin Marathon Walk and Four Peaks Challenge, and the ‘What I do for me’ campaign for World Mental Health Day.
Dr. Joseph Duffy, CEO, Jigsaw, commented: “Jigsaw and M&S share a joint ambition for supporting youth mental health and wellbeing in Ireland, and the last 12 months have seen us work hard to achieve this. We believe this unique partnership affords us the opportunity to spread more awareness, to raise more funds and to drive more change."
Eddie Murphy, Country Director for Marks & Spencer Ireland and Northern Ireland commented: “We are proud to see the real-life impact of our fundraising. Over the past year, we’ve seen first-hand the difference our partnership with Jigsaw has made—helping nearly 9,000 young people access vital mental health support more quickly and easily.”
Building on the success of these initiatives, M&S is delighted to announce the launch of a special edition Jigsaw charity bouquet, now available in stores nationwide. Priced at €10, with €1 from every sale directly supporting Jigsaw, this vibrant bouquet is more than just a beautiful floral arrangement—it is a symbol of hope and support for youth mental health in Ireland.
This bouquet, featuring a vibrant mix of Rucco baby blue, yellow Moonwalk roses, red snapdragons, cerise Aqua germini, lemon germini, and cerise L50 roses, is thoughtfully wrapped in compostable packaging. It offers customers a tangible way to contribute to Jigsaw’s vital work, helping M&S and Jigsaw work towards their shared goal of raising €350,000 over three years and reaching 1.5 million young people and their families by 2026.
