Transition Times: Students at Mount Temple School, in Dublin, decided to teach their friends about keeping their minds healthy.

As part of transition year at Mount Temple, a group of us took part in Young Social Innovators. We decided to look at mental health. Like a lot of young people we knew very little about it, and we wanted that to change. We discovered that it's an issue that affects about one in four people in Ireland - and that it's not widely discussed.

We realised that, as teenagers, we are a lot more vulnerable than we had thought to mental illnesses such as depression, anxiety, eating disorders, stress, phobias, obsessive-compulsive disorder and schizophrenia. We had assumed they affected only certain types of people. Many of the young people in the case studies we read, however, could have been any one of us.

To begin our research we spoke to our guidance counsellors and Mental Health Ireland. By inviting speakers into our class and organising trips, we made links with the doctors and staff of

St Vincent's Hospital Fairview, in Dublin, Schizophrenia Ireland, Aware and Bodywhys. We researched the causes, symptoms and effects of many mental illnesses and gained a much greater understanding of them.

There is a huge stigma attached to mental health and, particularly, mental illness. It is not a topic that many people feel comfortable talking about, which we found very disturbing, as it affects so many of us, or our family and friends. People seem to have no problem talking about physical health, but mental health is still a touchy subject. The truth is that mental and physical health are connected and equally important.

We had the opportunity to speak to junior classes about how to keep their minds healthy and deal with issues such as exam stress. We designed a series of posters and leaflets giving advice to students about their mental health.

After taking part in a public-speaking competition organised by Mental Health Ireland, we became interested in its North Dublin Befriending Project, which matches volunteers with a sufferer of mental illness to encourage communication, build confidence and forge friendships. We were too young to be volunteers, so we decided to raise some badly-needed funds for the project by organising a sponsored walk and a talent show, as well as selling badges that we designed to promote positive mental health. We raised €1,350, which will help some participants in the project to build their confidence by participating in courses of their choice.

We are proud of what we have learned and achieved, and we hope we have made some difference, however small. With luck we will live up to our slogan: Mind your mind!