Thanks to new funding from North Somerset Community Foundation and the Quartet Foundation, we will be able to increase our suicide prevention work in the area.
The £19,990 award was given to support community-based organisations responding to the health and wellbeing of disadvantaged people in North Somerset.
Second Step will use this funding to recruit a part-time therapist to join the North Somerset Hope Project team for six months. Hope works with men aged between 30 and 64 who are at risk of suicide. The new therapist will work closely with local men who need both practical and emotional support to help get their lives back on track. The therapist will complement the work of the Hope Project workers, providing much-needed therapy for men that use Hope, many of whom have complex needs or a history of childhood trauma.
Marina O’Brien, Manager of the Hope Project, said:
“We know Covid-19 has increased the demand for mental health services across North Somerset. Unemployment, debt and relationship breakdown are some of the biggest triggers of suicide so this funding is needed now more than ever. This new post will go a long way to help communities in North Somerset.”