5 people a week die by suicide in Northern Ireland!
How heartbreaking and unacceptable.
In the past 3 months we have been affected by suicide within our small community of at least 5 people who have been connected to our church (although there have been many more that we have known of).
Northern Ireland is facing a suicide epidemic but is being ignored by the UK government for mental health funding.
A disconcerting statistic shows that more people in Northern Ireland have died by taking their own lives since the signing of the Peace agreement than from violence during the Troubles. The number of deaths attributed to suicide in Northern Ireland has increased by 18.5 per cent since 2014.
So what does this mean?
Research has shown that suicide rates are so high within Northern Ireland as an after affect of the ‘Troubles’. Those who are suffering from Mental Health issues may not have been born during these times but their parents or grandparents were. Mental Health was not talked about and there was no real support for trauma victims, so the affects of trauma have been passed on to the next generation by negative mindsets, words, actions and beliefs.
What can we do when there is a lack of funding?
GLOW was established as a small charity in 2011 to bring together women from various backgrounds and help to build friendships and support with one another. But there was a greater need than just social activities. We soon realised these women had long term mental health issues that were being passed onto their children and the cycle was continuing.
We wanted to be a part of breaking this cycle of inter-generational issues. GLOW’s unique Personal Development Programmes have been developed with Life Coaching and CBT (Cognitive Behavioural Therapy) tools and techniques to empower women and girls to believe in themselves and start to change their way of thinking which then changes their actions.
Since 2011 we have had many success stories from both women and girls. So much so that we wanted to share these stories and also the steps that we use for this life change, so in 2017 we launched our work book ‘Discover the Real You’ with 10 steps to work through along with 10 women’s stories of change to inspire you. You can purchase this book at www.glowni.com/shop
Over the years our programmes have become more in demand and we have waiting lists of women and girls for our programmes. But due to lack of funding we cannot always keep up with the demand. So we have had to get creative and entrepreneurial in order to become more sustainable and reach out to more women and girls so we can help to break this negative deathly cloud of suicide and give people hope and a purpose.
Over the next 3-6 months we will be establishing two new social enterprise businesses in order to generate funds for our programmes. We are very excited about these ventures that will not only generate much needed money but also will create jobs and opportunities for developing new skills and volunteering.
Remember when you support a social enterprise business you are not making someone rich with money, you are giving someone a life saving opportunity and doing your part to help break this mental health and suicide epidemic.
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With Love
TeamGLOW
