A “vital” Dungannon-based charity providing early intervention crisis support to individuals dealing with worrying thoughts, thoughts of suicide and/or self-harm are appealing for public support after being rejected for lifeline funding.
Now in its nineteenth year, the Niamh Louise Foundation have cemented themselves within the community as a “safe environment”, with open doors to anyone from anywhere in Northern Ireland or, indeed, the Republic of Ireland who need their support.
The charity was founded in February 2006 on what would have been the 16th birthday of Niamh McKee – a young girl from the Clonmore area who tragically died by suicide the year prior.
This year will mark the 20th anniversary of Niamh’s tragic passing.
Niamh’s mother Catherine, stepfather James, and Anne Donaghy OBE, now Chief Executive of Mid and East Antrim Borough Council, co-founded the Foundation with an aim to work with a range of voluntary and statutory agencies to reduce the numbers of people taking their own lives in Northern Ireland.
The charity are also renowned for their expertise in dealing with families who have been bereaved by suicide – having worked with a total of 14 families in 2024 where they could see upwards of five individuals within each family.
Despite all that the small team of four have achieved in the last 19 years, the Foundation are now facing an era of uncertainty after having been unsuccessful in their application for funding from the Department of Health.
Speaking on behalf of Niamh Louise Foundation, Suicide Intervention Officer, Jenny Orton explained: “We applied for the Department of Health funding pot of £1.8m which was offered to the community and voluntary sector.
“I would say there was probably over 250 organisations applied for that amount of money and only 25 organisations got it – we weren’t one of them.
“We don’t know if there is going to be some more funding but there has been mention of more in the Autumn time but at this stage we aren’t 100% sure if it’s a part of the £1.8m or separate.”
Incredibly passionate about the work of the Foundation, Jenny detailed the stark reality of how desperately needed their services are: “There is crisis. In 2024, on average, the foundation took 14 new referrals a month for individuals that were in crisis or having thoughts of suicide.
“It’s a small team of four and that’s alongside the continuous work that we do. If we are working with someone on a one-to-one – we are not psychiatrists, we are not GPs – we are trained in suicide intervention and assisting mental health to try and deescalate those thoughts and potentially refer them where they have to go but we continue to work with them.
“It’s not a case of we get them, refer them to a GP and don’t see them again – we could be seeing them for a year. We build a pathway specifically for each person. It’s individual and tailored to their needs.
“When we looked at our services in 2022 we had an increase of 600% of families who had been bereaved by suicide from the year before. There was in 2023 a total of 933 one-to-one sessions within the Foundation for individuals at risk of suicide.
“In 2023, 221 suicides were registered that year and, historically, it has been male.
“It’s typically 70% male and 30% female and we are actively now trying to help in men’s health and have launched awareness sessions in the community and in employment settings designed to support managers and supervisors to notice signs and symptoms when employees are suffering.”
The demand, said Jenny, is growing year-on-year. The figures support this and Jenny argues that they are providing a service the Trust cannot provide – but yet the government are not supporting the organisation through funding.
“We are not equal partners in that playing field,” said Jenny of the Trust. “Year-on-year we are back to the ‘annual axe’ applying for funding that we have no certainty will be granted.
“We got the National Lottery Fund about six years ago which was a substantial amount which ran over five years.
“In that time we were actually able to build up our reserves on the back of that.
“Now, we have reserves for about a year and we did apply again to the National Lottery but they came back after their committee sat and said that the Department of Health should be funding us because we are in crisis intervention.
“We don’t even know why we didn’t get Department of Health money but then the Lottery also turned us away – where do we go now? We will keep trying and applying but there’s just no certainty.
” We do have those reserves for a year but we will close if we can’t secure funding to continue after that.”
Like many in the community and voluntary sector, Jenny believes that competition for funding is growing increasingly competitive and she also expresses her frustration at the Government’s apparent unwillingness to discuss a longer-term strategy for these services that could see them secure funding for a period of three to five years rather than forcing them into an annual cycle of uncertainty.
“It takes £250,000 a year to run the Foundation,” she said. “We are also governed and everything has to be done right and there is a lot of scrutiny as well.”
The community, however, has been “so supportive” she said. Without their fundraising initiatives and desire to consistently raise awareness for the work they do things could be very different.
Without secured funding for 2025, the team at Niamh Louise Foundation are relying on that public support now more than ever.
“Nothing is too little,” added Jenny. “It’s about raising awareness and about early intervention. Keep spreading the news of what we do and anything anyone can do to help – it all matters.”
To help secure much needed funds the team have spent the last number of months planning their “biggest fundraising event ever” in a Strictly Musical evening to be held at Armagh City Hotel on April 26.
The event will be compered by Portadown Estate Agent, Owen Matchett and will feature 10 dancing couples who have all utilised the Foundation’s support or advocated for their services.
Jenny said none of the dancers have ever done anything like this before but she said they are “terrified but excited”.
The event will aim to generate between £40,000 to £50,000 for the charity through ticket sales, donations and sponsorship.
A local advocate for the charity, Wendy Porter has also organised with a few friends to run a pre-loved clothing sale to raise additional funds.
It will take place on Friday, April 4 and Saturday, April 5 with a venue to be confirmed in the very near future.
Further details will be announced on the Dungannon Area Community Group here and all are also encouraged to make donations of clothing and bric-a-brac that could be put to sale.
Tickets can be purchased for Niamh Louise Foundation’s Strictly Musical here
