Over half of Irish adults claim they don't have enough time to listen to a young person about how they are feeling

• Research commissioned by Lidl Ireland to launch a new ‘Listening’ campaign in conjunction with its charity partner Jigsaw, the National Centre for Youth Mental Health, found that 72% of Irish adults feel confident in checking in with a young person if concerned about their mental health, however 53% claim busy lifestyles can hinder this important one-to-one time.
• Over a third of Irish adults who know a person struggling with their mental health claim that this person is under the age of 25.
• Lidl Ireland invests quarter of a million Euro in ‘Listening’ campaign. Focusing on a disruptive media strategy, Lidl Ireland will switch off all forms of TV, Radio and Print advertising from Monday 16th September for one week to ensure the ‘Listening’ campaign reaches a mass audience with the important message of how simply listening can make a huge difference to a young person struggling with their mental health.

On September 16th, Lidl Ireland will launch its ‘Listening’ campaign worth a quarter of a million Euro in conjunction with its charity partner, Jigsaw, the National Centre for Youth Mental Health in Ireland. Research commissioned by Lidl Ireland for the campaign found that over half (53%) of Irish adults feel they don’t always have time to really listen to a young person about how they are feeling. While 7 in 10 adults (72%) claim they would feel confident in checking in with a young person if they were concerned about their mental health, our busy often lifestyles get in the way of this important one-to-one time. 

Over a third of Irish adults who know a person struggling with their mental health claim that this person is under the age of 25. Loneliness and Isolation (38%) were reported most likely to have a negative impact on a person’s own mental health, with financial issues (37%), bullying (26%) or work stress (26%) following. With loneliness and isolation at the top of the list, it is evident that the importance of lending an ear is crucial for anyone who struggles with mental health to help them avoid feeling this way. Lidl Ireland now more than ever encourage everyone to make that special effort and just listen. 

Lidl Ireland will switch off all forms of TV, Radio and Print advertising from Monday 16th September for a full week. The sole focus will be upon Jigsaw in a bid to bring awareness to their OneGoodAdult campaign, shining a light on how simply listening can make a significant difference to a young person struggling with their mental health. Lidl have worked with some of Ireland’s largest media organisations to deliver a disruptive media campaign which will reach over half the Irish adult population. 

Alongside this strong, disruptive media campaign selected product packaging in Lidl stores nationwide will be stickered throughout the duration of the campaign to reflect key messaging on how you can make a difference to a young person by simply listening. Throughout the duration of the campaign, keep an eye out for Coolree Irish Fresh Milk, Connell Farm Free Range Irish Eggs, Fallon’s Original Blend Tea, Oatilicious Porridge Oats and Bridge Bakery Chocolate Chip and Iced Queen Cakes. 

Through Jigsaw’s OneGoodAdult Campaign, Lidl Ireland wants to show how the act of listening and providing a safe space for a young person to open-up can make a huge difference to them. Lidl Ireland and Jigsaw share some tips on how to be a good listener to a young person if they are struggling with their mental health, having a bad day, or simply want to get something off their chest: 

Listen: Listening more than you talk is a good starting point. You don’t need all the answers, you don’t have to be an expert, just listen.

Give them time: Giving a young person a bit of time and attention in the day is critical. If you are not in a position to listen attentively to a young person, it is better to tell them and try to find a better time later in the day.

Don’t judge them: You’d be amazed at how often we are all guilty of doing this. Young people often feel judged by adults or fear that they will be judged by adults, so they don’t tell us what is really going on in their lives. Keep an open mind and allow yourself to really hear what is being said, not what you think is being said or will be said.

Don’t dismiss their concerns: As adults, we can very easily forget what it’s like to be a teenager or young adult. From our perspective it might not seem like a big deal but it’s the young person’s perspective that matters. 

Jigsaw, the National Centre for Youth Mental Health, is Lidl’s official charity partner since April 2018. To date, Lidl Ireland have raised over €500,000 through numerous campaigns and fundraising initiatives. Jigsaw’s ambition is to create an Ireland where every young person’s mental health is valued and supported. They provide free confidential and professional support to young people aged 12-25, in 13 centres across Ireland. Jigsaw focus on prevention and early intervention, aimed at addressing mental health issues in the early stages and assisting young people in developing coping skills and resilience that will equip them to deal with future challenges to their mental health. 

The Lidl Book of Listening will be available in all Lidl stores nationwide from Monday 16th September. Learn how you can be OneGoodAdult at www.lidl.ie/onegoodadult.

Notes to editor:

• This research was conducted by Empathy Research through an online survey across a nationally representative sample of adults aged 18+ from 9th – 16th August 2019.
• Quotas were placed on gender, age, social class and region with weighting applied to ensure final data was representative of these quotas.
• ‘Young Person’ refers to those aged 12-25 for the purpose of this press release.
• Lidl Ireland will switch off all forms of TV, Radio and Print advertising from Monday 16th September to Sunday 22nd September.

Key Findings

1. Almost three quarters of adults (73%) claim they know someone who struggles with their mental health.
2. Just over a third (34%) of those know someone who struggles with their mental health claim that this person is aged under 25.
3. Just over 7 in 10 (72%) adults claim they feel that they have the confidence to check in with a young person, if they were concerned that they were having difficulties with their mental health.
4. Almost half (49%) of adults claim they do not always have enough time to talk and really listen to a young person about how they are feeling. A similar proportion (46%) of adults feel they do have enough time, more likely to be those aged 65+ (58%). 
5. Just over 7 in 10 (71%) adults claim they would be fully attentive and confident and give a young person that needed to talk their utmost attention and time. There are 1 in 7 (14%) who claim they would try their best, but they would feel uncomfortable talking to a young person about their mental health. 
6. Almost half (46%) of adults claim they wouldn’t or aren’t sure if they would tell someone if they were struggling with their own mental health. 
7. Less than a third (32%) of adults claim they are currently looking after their own mental health very well, with almost 6 in 10 (57%) feeling they could do more in this regard.
8. Nearly two thirds (63%) of adults do not believe that the topic of mental health is given enough attention in education, with just 13% feeling that it is given sufficient attention.  Those aged 65+ are most likely (72%) to feel that the topic of mental health is not given enough attention in education. 
9. Loneliness/Isolation (38%) is the aspect deemed most likely to have a negative impact on a person’s own mental health, with financial issues (37%) very close behind. Just over a quarter (26%) believe work stress or bullying is most likely to negatively impact on their own mental health. 
10. Just over 4 in 10 (44%) adults believe that exercising can have a positive effect on their mental health, with a third claiming that getting enough sleep (34%) and spending time with friends (33%) can have a positive impact on their mental health.