Mental Health Ireland Project #28223

Counselling Help to 20 Suicidal Irish People

by Hope Trust

Counselling Help to 20 Suicidal Irish People

Project Report | Jan 10, 2025
Looking Forward with Hope

By Sarah-Joy Hearty | Administrator

We are encouraged to report that following on from our Stories of Hope Series that ran from September through to the end of October, we have been able to increase our counselling capacity due to the series reaching such a target. We have since expanded our counselling team, doubling in number from three to
six current Hope Trust Counsellors. With this being such a key element to our charity we are thrilled to see such growth and have the opportunity to offer a wider expansion of help to those in need from all parts of the country.

This feedback also encouraged us to explore our training. We now have new trainers on board who are undergoing training to run our mental health workshops. We hope to have workshops ready to run later on in the year.

We were invited to participate in a bereavement service in the Methodist church in November which was very moving as people took time to remember those they have lost, including those lost by suicide. We were honoured to be asked to take part, and we received a great response on the night. We’re delighted
to be given opportunities to spread awareness not only of our charity but of the help available to people struggling. It’s our pleasure to be a part of the vital work of helping others and to be in a position of being able to offer support.

We had a very moving testimony shared this year at our annual candle lit walk from a mother who lost her son due to suicide. We were many in number as we took to the streets of Athlone to remember and honour the lives of those lost and offer prayer and support to their family and friends.

We are so grateful for all that has been happening for us and we look forward to what’s ahead in the coming year for Hope Trust.
As always, thank you so much to everyone for the support.
God Bless you!

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Sep 19, 2024
Encouraging Responses

By Linda Rowett | CEO

one of the participants

The International Suicide Prevention Awareness day was on 10th September, 2024. The National Office of Suicide Prevention (NOSP) in Ireland has marked the whole month of September as Suicide Prevention month. We are encouraged that this has been highlighted, but here at Hope Trust we consider every month to be 'Suicide prevention month'! There are still too many suicides happening in our country and globally - even one death through suicide is a tragedy, but we average around 500 a year. Far too high!

For those who have been keeping track with us, we have been involved in a project aimed at giving hope to those who are struggling to find purpose in their lives. If you haven't already seen any of them please feel free to have a look and see if any of the stories may be relevant to people you know who need encouragement. We would like to think that these maybe used to intervene and help people to reach out for the help they need.

Our 9 short 'Stories of Hope' are online and being shared through our facebook and instagram pages and via our website www.hopetrust.ie. We are attaching the trailer with this report for you to get an idea of what to expect. Most of the participants have experienced a time in their life when suicide seemed the only answer to their pain. They have chosen to be vulnerable now in public in order to spread a message of hope - there is much more to life than you might be seeing right now! Please don't give up! There are also two stories of the impact of loss by suicide - how their families struggled to cope and the way in which they found support in their grief.

We are very grateful to those who participated and also those who supported us through this whole process. Its good to know that we can rely on the support of community - thank you to 'unseen' GlobalGiving supporters who have helped us, we could not manage without your help - thank you.

We have been receiving positive feedback and also more requests for counselling and help. We are trusting that we be able to expand our part-time counselling workforce to meet the increasing needs. But these are all 'good problems' to have as it means that we are meeting our target audience.

Thank you again for your continued support - we appreciate you.

God bless you!

Links:

Trailer of the 9

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May 30, 2024
Life with hope - building trust

By Linda Rowett | CEO

filming in progress

The world is experiencing so much change, disruption, shifts in climate, wars and social breakdown that it is no wonder that people are uncertain of what to trust and what sort of future to hope for. Our counselling rooms reflect that train of thought with a marked rise in anxiety and depression amongst clients.

One of our clients sent an encouragement to us which was kind and a blessing:

"I want to thank you for your dedication, kindness, knowledge and support. For your

healing words and expertise; for your help, time and care. Caring for clients isnt just

what you do, it's who you are"

We are grateful for being granted the privilege of walking alongside people who are struggling and are always blessed when one of them experiences a breakthrough. Obviously not all do and it is for that reason that we continue to 'press on' and in faith we trust that God will draw alongside them to encourage and support them.

We have completed filming the 9 short films of people sharing their stories of hope and now the exacting task of editing down long interviews to short clips begins! Capturing the most salient and inspiring parts of their stories is challenging and encouraging at the same time. It has been an eye opener to know the different ways in which people's lives have changed for the better. We are including a link of one to give you a taster.

We have also started a new season of training trainers for the four 'Equipped to Care' workshops we offer on building caring community, particularly within churches. 'Listening and Responding', Healthy Relationships', 'Responding to those affected by suicide and self-harm', 'Dealing with anger, conflict and bullying'. Over the pandemic we stopped offering the training and with losses in personnel, it has taken some time to be in a position to reconsider that position. However, we are sensing that we are in a new season now, with hopefully many wanting to become equipped to respond to the needs in our communities. We trust that our film clips will inspire them.

Compassion, care and listening are so essential and, despite negative world trends, can really help keep us in touch with one another and our own humanity. We may not be able to resolve the world's bigger issues, but we can still hold onto hope and pass that on to others in need of it.

Links:

Nick Park's story

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