£10 million to support suicide prevention

• £10 million for 79 charities across England to help prevent suicide
• New funding will benefit helpline services, support in schools and groups in area with highest rates of suicide
• Delivers on Government’s Suicide Prevention Strategy which sets out plans to prevent self-harm and suicide to save lives
• Organisations benefiting include helplines, groups providing therapy to men at risk of suicide and charities providing targeted support in high-risk areas

People struggling with their mental health will be better supported thanks to a £10 million funding boost for organisations working to prevent suicides.

A total of 79 organisations, including a suicide prevention helpline, will receive funding through the Government’s Suicide Prevention VCSE Grant Fund. This will expand access to support services covering every region in the country, including the areas with the highest rates of suicide.

Both national charities and small community-led charities, which provide tailored support for local areas, will receive new funding to support people with their mental health.

Many charities will deliver services through partnerships and alliances, to help ensure joined-up support for individuals seeking help.

This represents an important milestone in delivering the Suicide Prevention Strategy, which sets out the government’s actions to prevent self-harm, suicide and save lives.

Minister for Mental Health Maria Caulfield said:

Every suicide is a tragedy which leaves a terrible mark on the families and communities affected.

Non-profit organisations play a hugely important role in supporting people with their mental health and preventing suicide in England.  

This new funding will support people who need it the most and build on the brilliant work happening across the country on suicide prevention.

The fund was announced in the 2023 Autumn Statement to support charities in either meeting increased demand for suicide prevention services, or to support a range of diverse and innovative activity that can help to prevent suicides in England.

The organisations set to receive grants include James’ Place Charity and PAPYRUS Prevention of Young Suicide – both have been awarded £625,000.

James’ Place Charity will use the funding to prevent men dying by suicide in Liverpool, Newcastle and London, and will provide two full-time-equivalent therapists in each James Place centre, to help save the lives of men in active suicidal crisis.

PAPYRUS aims to establish six new community hubs, largely down the east coast of England, which will go towards engaging and training parents and caregivers, providing them with free resources and free training.

Professor Sir Louis Appleby, the national advisor to the Suicide Prevention Strategy, said:

The new funding is in recognition of the role of voluntary organisations large and small in suicide prevention.

They offer support to people in crisis or on the margins of society because of poverty, disability or prejudice.

They often work alongside the NHS but in settings where many who need help feel more comfortable.

The new Government strategy says that bringing down the suicide rate is a national priority, and the ability of the voluntary sector to reach people at risk is vital.

We Hear You CEO, Lucy Kitchener, said:

Along with every other charity we know, We Hear You is finding fundraising extremely challenging right now.

Hearing the news that we have been awarded Suicide Prevention funding is wonderful, therefore.

Better still, this grant will fund counselling sessions with the people who come to our service feeling the most distraught.

Public Health England figures show that 1 in 10 suicides are from people with a chronic health condition. We Hear You supports people who are affected by cancer and life-threatening conditions.

The Samaritans will receive a grant of £530,000, to support its 24/7 helpline services and wider innovative suicide prevention activities.

This will include:

• Postvention, which is an intervention that takes place after a suicide by supporting the family and friends of the person who has died, in schools and colleges.

• Preventing suicides in high-risk locations.

• Research to increase understanding of the needs of callers and how to reach people who don’t use the service.

• Targeting groups including marginalised communities, such as ethnic minorities, LGBT, people in the justice system.

Julia Bentley, CEO of Samaritans, said:

This funding will help Samaritans continue our mission to save lives.

The voluntary sector plays a crucial part in suicide prevention and, in this challenging environment, financial support for charities has never been more important.

Today’s announcement is a welcome step towards the resourcing needed to deliver the national suicide prevention strategy.

The Suicide Prevention strategy commits to more than 130 measures, from prevention and earlier intervention, through to more targeted and proactive support for people in crisis.

Notes to editors

• More information on the government’s £10 million fund for charities is available here: Government suicide prevention fund for charity sector to be boosted – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

All grants awarded are currently provisional and subject to finalisation of grant agreements. Funds will begin distributed from April.

Our Suicide Prevention Strategy can be found here – Suicide prevention strategy for England: 2023 to 2028 – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

A full list of those receiving grant money can be found below:

10 Windsor Walk CIC – £233,537.62

Action on Postpartum Psychosis – £123,668

Active Prospects – £105,800

AMAT UK – £ 94,357

Aspens Charities £150,000

Base 51 – £9,587

Beachy Head Chaplaincy Team – £245,386

Bipolar UK – £250,000

Birmingham Irish Association – £45,375

Bolton Lads and Girls Club – £9,936

Bradford Rape Crisis & Sexual Abuse Survivors Service – £95,580

Brave Futures – £22,530

Cambridgeshire, Peterborough and South Lincolnshire (CPSL) Mind LTD – £176,668

Chapter West Cheshire – £9,995

Chesterfield Citizens Advice Bureau £99,760

Cornwall Neighbourhoods for Change Ltd – £171,083.32

Druglink – £135,000

Emerge Advocacy – £126,095

Empowerment Charity Lancashire – £80,000

Every Life Matters – £64,756

Fabrica – £9,974

Family Action – £197,794

Family Intervention Counselling Service CIC (FICS) – £113,625

First Step, Leicester, Leicestershire & Rutland – £76,845

Footprints Project Limited – £5,908

Home Group – £200,000

Home-Start Trafford, Salford & Wigan – £43,823.77

Inclusion Hampshire – £163,531

Ipsum – £96,270

Islington Mind – £65,939

James’ Place Charity – £625,000

Jigsaw4u Ltd – £68,698

Katie Piper Foundation – £263,192

Kindred Minds – £7,069

Lancashire Mind Limited – £119,981

Lancaster Men’s Hub – £9,950

Lawn Manor Academy – £9,000

Lincolnshire Rural Support Network – £85,918

Listening Place – £51,000

Mankind UK – £224,830.71

Mental Health Foundation – £110,636

Mental Health Innovations – £625,000

Mersey Counselling and Therapy Centre – £42,657

Merseyside Water Rescue – £5,329

Missing People – £199,009

Nafsiyat – £79,068

Nai’s House CIO – £23,050

National Suicide Prevention Alliance (hosted by Samaritans) – £150,000

Nepacs  (North East Prison After Care Society) – £332,771

No Place Productions – £23,602

North Devon Against Domestic Abuse Limited – £108,532

Oakleaf Enterprise – £8,645

PAPYRUS Prevention Of Young Suicide – £625,000

Penhaligon’s Friends – £9,400

Place2Be – £399,916

Roundabout Ltd – £88,184

Safeline Warwick – £415,497

SafeNet Domestic Abuse and Support Services – £36,512.50

Saffron Sheffield Women’s Counselling and Therapy Service Limited (Saffron) – £38,127

Samaritans – £530,000

Samaritans of Harrogate and District – £8,500

SJOG (St John of God Hospitaller Services) – £153,461

South Warwickshire and Worcestershire Mind LTD – £116,730.60

St Giles Trust – £194,912

St Paul’s Hostel – £1,000

Stockport County Community Trust – £16,800

Stockton and District Advice and Information Service – £108,665

Sunflowers Suicide Support – £88,948

Survivors Of Bereavement By Suicide – £50,434

Talk off the Record Youth Counselling Croydon – £129,250

Teens In Crisis (TIC+) – £100,054.65

The Russ Devereux Headlight Project CIO – £9,950

The University of Warwick  – £8,690.11

The Warren of Hull Ltd – £123,371

UK Men’s Sheds Association – £143,608

Warrington Youth Zone Limited – £37,359

We Hear You – £90,000

Wirral Mind – £110,856

Wolverhampton Suicide Prevention Stakeholder Forum Charitable Trust – £8,000

ENDS