[Boards.ie: Niamh]

Well, almost.

Before I post anything else, I know the holidays can be a difficult time for some people for a variety of reasons. You can get help and support from several places which you will find listed here.

Lads we're nearly ready to see off another decade! Boards is now entering it's 4th decade, we began in the 90s, saw out the noughties and the teens and we're ready now for the rip-roaring 20s

We've added a small number of new forums this year with a couple more in production. The most recent was Referral Codes in Bargain Alerts.
The biggest and busiest was the Current Affairs/IMHO which was created to take all political and current affair chat out of AH.

And finally, the ASD sub-forum in Parenting was renamed and repurposed to include parents of all special needs children - Special Needs Parenting.

We've probably closed or merged a number of dead forums and we'll continue to move or merge those in the new year to keep things as fresh as possible.

I say this every year - everyone deserves some time off so be patient over the next couple of weeks as mods, cmods, admin and staff take some time away to spend with friends, family and pets.

Thank you to everyone for your wonderful contributions, your kindness, helpfulness and generosity to fellow members and your support throughout the year - let's have lots more of this next year.

Happy Christmas to those who celebrate and enjoy the break if you'll be lucky enough to have one,

All the best,
Niamh, Mark and all of the Boards.ie team.

[Boards.ie: Niamh]

We recognise that this is not a good time of year for everyone and for some people it is the worst time of year.

If you feel you need to talk to someone, here are some helpful numbers and websites of people you can contact:

Samaritans - how we can help you or FREE call number 116 123 available 24/7.

Aware (supporting depression) 1800 80 48 48 Daily 10am – 10pm

Turn2Me.org No phoneline but website might be of help.

Gay Switchboard Ireland - (01) 872 1055 6.30pm - 9pm, 7 days per week | email: ask@gayswitchboard.ie | IM on their Facebook page here.

Parentline - guiding parents, supporting families Lo Call 1890 927 277 or 01 8733500 Monday–Thursday 10 a.m. – 9.00 p.m. and Friday 10a.m. – 4.00 p.m

Childline 1800 66 66 66 or Free text TALK to 50101

Teenline 1800 833 634 available 24 hours a day, 365 days of the year.

Society of St. Vincent de Paul 01 8386990 - you will find the numbers for individual area offices on the site linked.

Fr Peter McVerry Trust 01 823 0776 National Head Office (9am-5pm Mon-Fri) | 087 912 3989 Information and advice number for those experiencing or at risk of homelessness (9am-5pm Mon-Fri)

Simon Community

Focus Ireland

HOMELESS HELPLINE at 1800 707 707 (Dublin only, Central Placement Service)

You can also find more helpful sites and numbers in this sticky in After Hours and this sticky in Personal Issues. Take care.