Founded by Alan McDowell in 2019 following his own experience of having mental ill health, Portadown Wellness Centre’s vision is ‘to lift the cloud of mental illness.’ Alan's passion is to help reduce the stigma surrounding mental ill health in Northern Ireland, believing everybody experiencing emotional issues can make a positive and effective recovery with the right help and support.
“Through the experience many of us become isolated, losing self-confidence and self-esteem. So, we [ Portadown Wellness Centre] offer practical, therapeutic activities and classes to boost self-belief and confidence and create an ambience to meet new, supportive caring friends."
Supporting Mental Health
Jennifer Coulter, Counsellor brings her own lived experience to a role that really opened her eyes to just how many people needed support especially as the cost of living crisis continues to bite.
“My professional goal is to continue to support more people and at these subsidised rates. I want to remove the financial barriers because it’s a privilege and pleasure to witness a client, for example, with complex trauma and abuse issues, who no matter the trials of the week, can pick herself up, come here, and end our sessions with a smile.”
Committed to ensuring vital services remain within reach for everyone, regardless of financial circumstances, individuals can access effective professional support and take part in a wide range of holistic and creative programmes. From arts, crafts, pottery, music and drama therapy, cooking, gardening and horticulture, and yoga in a safe and welcoming space to users being able to attend information sessions on benefits.
Rooted in their Community
Portadown Wellness Centre continues to grow supported by the profits from the Empower Garden Centre and Community Cafe. The Café was opened in April 2025 and allows them to host a weekly dementia café alongside an autism support group.
Supporting their local community has seen them expand to include running a food distribution centre and community fridge, and a wellbeing and education programme that helps to cross the divide and unlock the potential of local schoolchildren.
Emma Henry, Garden Centre Manager revealed that chatting about the Wellness Centre’s work while on the till often leads to customers sharing their own wellbeing experiences and needs. There is a local need and due to popularity, they are having to double the number of cookery classes they offer to remove the waiting list.
Local businesses value their work too. Alan describes a local businessman who regularly donates to the charity and offers their counselling service to his employees. because “it makes more financial sense to support a local charity who offers my employees a service when and if they need it rather than having to lose and replace an experienced, valued member of staff.’
Digging NICVA membership
Alan had no experience in charity sector but with the support of Donna Semple from NICVA’s Governance team, he received the clear, informative and instructive guidance needed to set up the charity and has found helpful support from NICVA ever since. Alan cites how he was challenged by an experienced businessman on the legitimacy of one of his programmes. However, after a quick chat with Donna, she was able to come back with clear evidence that he had been correctly advised by his accountant.
“That kind of help is important and reassuring. And membership has opened doors for our organisation. It has given us credibility and the confidence to approach funders. Attending events such as the Funding Fayre helped us to find and secure much need funds and the NICVA Summit was inspiring and fantastic for networking and reaching out to others. I would say there is no other more effective organisation in supporting the voluntary and community sector in Northern Ireland than NICVA.”
How you can help
You could pop into the cafe for a coffee and sample their lovely tray bakes? Grab a bargain bag of compost to spruce up your garden? Make a donation or sign up for one of their community classes or even a corporate away day?
Alan also has three simple requests - continue to raise awareness of the need for mental health support, be willing to be vulnerable around others - let them know if you are or have suffered with poor mental health, and if you or you know someone who could be a great General Manager, reach out.
Alan is stepping down from his role and taking some time for himself, but he knows he is leaving having taken a risk that worked out. When Alan suffered mental ill health, he had lost both his parents within 6 months. After months of fretting on whether his parents would approve or not, he took the plunge and invested his inheritance in starting Portadown Wellness Centre.
As he steps down he’s happy to think that in helping other people, he’s
“made mummy and daddy proud and done them well!”
