Alice O'Toole
Project Team Leader
MSc. BAHons
What is your role and day-to day activities at First Person Project?
I’m a Project Coordinator at FPP – that means amongst other things, I ensure that our projects run as efficiently as possible but with our FPP personal touch. I also offer one-to-one support sessions where people can come in for a chat to talk about their mental health, and I facilitate the women’s groups to be as welcoming and relaxed as possible, supporting group members to talk about their own or their community’s mental health with one another. I get to know everyone involved, build connections, do some networking, and refer and signpost if there’s a need. I definitely get to do something different every day which I love!
What connection/experience have you had with mental health?
As well as having multiple loved ones with poor mental health, I have had experience with anxiety and depression from childhood, which led into a severe eating disorder by the time I was 18. My experience with chronic illness and chronic pain massively affected my mental health and wellbeing – being in pain every day of your life isn’t exactly conductive to good mental health! Through years of lived experience and work on accepting myself as I am and for who I want to be, plus life-changing surgery for my endometriosis, I’ve healed from my eating disorder and my mental wellbeing is hugely improved. I still have bad days, but my self-confidence has come leaps and bounds since I was an anxious teenager – I’ve learned it’s okay to be a bit of a weirdo!
What is your role and day-to day activities at First Person Project?
What connection/experience have you had with mental health?
If you had a day off to recharge your mental health, what would your ideal day look like? What activities would you enjoy?
My ideal day would start with taking a walk to grab breakfast with my fiancée – we’re partial to a good coffee and a bagel, and the walk is great for getting us up and about! I love to get arty when I feel like I need a mental health reset, so I’d probably crochet or do a bit of drawing after that while I watch cartoons (I’m still a kid at heart). Then in the evening I’d cook something for us to eat - I love to cook, my best dish is probably a spicy sausage pasta – and we’d go out for a chill pint with our friends.
What's the most memorable piece of advice you've received regarding mental health, and how has it influenced your approach?
The piece of advice I always remember, and one that I often share, is that you can’t pour from an empty cup. Looking after yourself is essential to being the best version of you that you can be, and only then can you truly be there to give to others.
What is your role and day-to day activities at First Person Project?
What do you enjoy most about working for First Person Project?
What connection/experience have you had with mental health?
I love being able to hear people’s stories – it’s something I really value about my work and I don’t ever take it for granted. Everybody has a story to share, and everybody’s story is worth listening to. Being able to see the positive change and confidence in people from the first time I met them is also incredible to witness.
What positive attributes do you bring to the First Person Project team?
I like to think that I bring creativity to the FPP team! I’m an avid creative at heart and love to incorporate it into my work as it’s proven to benefit mental health. I bring a public health perspective due to my MSc studies, and I think I also bring a bit of geekiness - I’m never without something to relate to somebody with as I have such a wide array of interests.
What is your role and day-to day activities at First Person Project?