Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Outrage as suicide unit to fold after just 15mths
£215k funds plea to save charity
A SUICIDE prevention centre is under threat of closure just over a year after it opened.
The Community Crisis Intervention Service in Derry, which has been running for 15 months, is to shut unless it can get funding by the end of the month.
The service, which operates each week from 8pm on Thursday until 8am on Monday, has helped more than 260 people at risk of suicide.
SDLP MLA Mark H Durkan said he received information the Department of Health would not provide the £215,000 required to keep the unit running.
Derry, which has the highest suicide rate in the UK, has no other registered mental health centre.
The CCIS, which is operated by social justice charity Extern, was initially funded through the confidence and supply deal between the Tories and DUP until March.
However, the Department of Health told the Mirror it is no longer able to fund the service, adding the “decisions on its future resides with the Derry and Strabane District Council”.
The Stormont body also said it was “facing a funding shortfall” to maintain its existing services in addition to the need to respond to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The council revealed to the Mirror it is in the process of writing a letter to the Executive requesting it provide further money.
Mr Durkan said the charity, based in Bishop Street, was now in need more than ever.
He added: “It is crucial this service receives continued funding as community mental health support will sadly be needed more than ever in the coming weeks and months ahead, as the repercussions of the current crisis is fully realised.”
Earlier this year, a mother who lost her teenage son to suicide in 2005 also told this paper it was time for the relevant departments to show more action.
Lorraine Curran, 51, who is a paediatric nurse and works with the charity, said: “My son Mark died when he was 17 and he was your typical teenager.
“It would be devastating for people across Northern Ireland if the service came to an end.
“It is vital long-term funding is provided and it remains open, we have fought tooth and nail for these people and we won’t give up on anybody.
“I hope those in charge are not prepared to give up and turn their back on those that are most in need of help.”
Foyle Search and Rescue branded the funding blow an “absolute disgrace”.
Chair Stephen Twells told the Mirror: “If money is not provided by the end of the month, this service will close.
“That will be catastrophic to the people of the North West.
The charity added it had stopped 189 from entering the river, spoken with 234 people in distress and recovered three bodies.
Mr Twells said: “The Community Crisis Intervention Service has saved hundreds of lives in varying degrees of crisis, including those at risk of suicide or self-harm.”
A final decision on the future of the service is expected in the coming weeks.