Wirral's independent local news website
Local suicide prevention charity, The Martin Gallier Project have received a welcome funding boost from Cheshire based charitable support organisation, The Steve Morgan Foundation.
The huge £96,000 grant which has been awarded to coincide with World Mental Health Day, will help the charity to support even more individuals and families who have either contemplated or been affected by suicide.
The ground-breaking charity was founded by Jessica Gallier in the wake of her father’s tragic suicide in 2017. To date, The Martin Gallier Project has helped save over 8,000 lives and are the only suicide prevention, intervention and postvention service in the North West.
Via their team of highly trained Suicide Intervention Workers, they provide crisis support through immediate suicide interventions on the high street with no barriers to access or waiting lists, thus reducing the need for clinical interventions and hospital admissions.
They also support a range of local agencies with outreach support for vulnerable adults and are a hub for families suffering the after-effects of suicide.
Speaking about the donation, Jessica Gallier said, “‘We are absolutely bowled over by the generosity of the Steve Morgan Foundation and their incredible donation. It’s very fitting that on World Mental Health day we have been given this amazing opportunity to help even more people who are struggling with thoughts of suicide issues or just need someone to talk to outside their immediate circle.
“It’s been such a challenging 18 months for so many people and we cannot thank the team at the Steve Morgan Foundation enough for believing in the work we do and supporting us in such a meaningful way.” Jessica went on to explain that an average intervention costs the charity circa £80 so the donation would actually help in the region of 1200 individuals and potentially save their lives.
A spokesperson from The Steve Morgan Foundation said the team were ‘extremely impressed’ with the ground-breaking work the charity is undertaking, “The Steve Morgan Foundation trustees were particularly impressed with the wide-reaching and innovative work undertaken by The Martin Gallier Project. The unique service offered by this charity, which is run by people with lived experience, is literally saving lives.
The Foundation is confident that this charity will continue to grow to meet demand and is supportive of their expansion plan for Merseyside and wider afield.”
Image: (L) Ruth Dixon – The Steve Morgan Foundation and (R) Jessica Gallier – the Martin Gallier Project outside the Martin Gallier Project premises in New Ferry.