THIS Friday (10 September) South Down MP Margaret Ritchie will see for herself examples from an innovative project which has been supporting young people in rural areas tackling issues of homelessness, suicide and self harm.

She will be the main guest speaker at a “Celebration of Success” event in Downpatrick at 3pm, in the Down County Museum at English Street, coinciding with Suicide Prevention Day.

MACS Floating Support and Mentoring Services will be showcasing examples of successful interventions and providing a platform for young people to share their inspiring stories of how MACS Support has transformed their lives.

The event will also include input from Brian O’Kane, senior principal officer from the Housing Executive, who will be speaking about the service.

“The Floating Support Service that MACS provides for young people in the rural areas in and around Downpatrick and Lisburn is a much needed and valuable one. Their housing-related support helps young people to successfully maintain their tenancies and to live independently in the community.”

Chris Totten, head of health and wellbeing improvement from the South Eastern Trust, will also be discussing MACS’s work on suicide prevention in the South Eastern area.

“We are delighted to be able to host this event which will showcase the hard work of our organisation and the young people we have supported over the past four years,” said Eva Koerner, MACS Floating Support project manager in Downpatrick.

“We are anticipating a high-powered audience of key stakeholders and local community representatives and we are very excited that they will have a chance to see the impact of this work,” he added.

The ‘Celebration of Success’ event will include a short segment from a DVD designed and produced by local young people highlighting the range of ser-vices offered by MACS.

“My world was closing in on me and I needed to open it up”, said Paddy, a former client of both the floating support and mentoring services.

“With MACS support I have been able to fulfil my life’s passion of travelling to Thailand for my martial arts training. I have become an active participant in my own rural community, and I am delighted to have recently become a director of MACS.”

Ms Koerner added: “Obviously these issues of homelessness, self harm and suicide have not gone away in rural communities, but we are confident this event will demonstrate that we can make a real difference in the lives of young people.”