Pavee 50808 – a mental health support text line for young Travellers

PAVEE 50808 is a free, 24/7, national, anonymous mental health support text line for young Travellers in Ireland.

Irish Travellers experience mental health inequalities and there is a need for targeted and mainstream measures to address this – particularly with younger Travellers.

Pavee Point Traveller & Roma Centre has worked in partnership with the HSE and 50808 to support Traveller inclusion within their new mental health text service.

This has included:
 developing an innovative media campaign targeted at young Travellers
 providing anti-racism and discrimination training to staff and volunteers with the service
 developing a unique text code for Travellers using the service (PAVEE 50808) to capture Traveller engagement with 50808

How Does Pavee 50808 Work?

Young Travellers can access support from PAVEE 50808 Crisis Volunteers at
any time and from anywhere (a busy trailer, school or outside) by:
 Texting ‘PAVEE’ to 50808
 A Crisis Volunteer will receive the text and respond within 5 minutes
 The Crisis Volunteer will listen and support young Travellers to stay safe and move from ‘a hot moment’ to ‘a cool calm’.

They will build a relationship and good communication with the young person to work with them to identify a plan to stay well and safe.

What if the Young Person is at Immediate Risk of Suicide?

If someone is at immediate risk of suicide, the Crisis Volunteer will first work with them to form a safety plan. If this is not possible, the Crisis Volunteer may contact the National Ambulance Service who will send someone to check that the texter is safe. This is a last resort and only used when someone is in immediate danger of taking their own life.

Why Text ‘PAVEE’ To 50808?

In the absence of an ethnic identifier across mental health services it is difficult to know if and how many Travellers are engaging with mental health services or the outcome of such engagement.

For over 30 years, Pavee Point has advocated for the implementation of ethnic equality monitoring (inclusive of an ethnic identifier) across all routine administrative data collection systems, including those in mental health.

Disaggregated data can be used to combat racism, eliminate discrimination, promote equality of opportunity and protect human rights. It can also be used to:
(1) identify barriers and issues for Travellers in accessing and using services

(2) to support health services in their statutory obligations to ensure services are inclusive and accessible.

50808 is an anonymous service – data will be disaggregated and will be anonymous so that we will be able to learn the number of
Travellers using the service, to identify where gaps exist and to inform
action.

What Are We Asking You to Do?

We are seeking your support in signposting Travellers to the service and
disseminating materials as widely as possible on the ground to Traveller
families and through your networks, social media, etc.

Materials include posters for distribution in organisations, local sites, community centres, schools, etc.

Any Other Questions?

You can contact us at mentalhealth@pavee.ie or you can find more information at www.text50808.ie