00:00A Margate suicide prevention charity says it's struggling to keep its doors open
00:04after some dedicated funding from the government ended without replacement.
00:09Speak Up CIC says the loss of funding two years ago has left it increasingly reliant on community donations.
00:16The service used to be open every day, but due to funding cuts,
00:19they've been forced to only open three days a week,
00:22meaning people have to wait to access the support that they need.
00:26Thanh's suicide rate is around 21% higher than the national average,
00:30according to a report published by the Office of Health Improvement and Disparities in May.
00:36Kay, the service manager at Speak Up CIC,
00:39says the lack of preventative support in the area could make these numbers worse.
00:43We've lost all our funding now. We haven't got any funding coming in at all.
00:48We were being funded. We weren't being funded for peer support.
00:53That all stopped because the funding streams were reduced and taken away for preventative support.
00:59I know it's not just locally, it's a national thing.
01:03Everything was being put into crisis support.
01:06So they've put the funding towards crisis houses, also the safe havens, etc.
01:13But the prevention side, they took large chunks out of that portion of money.
01:19And it means we can't support the amount of people that we'd really like to support.
01:24I spoke to some volunteers helping to keep the charity running.
01:27They used to be service users and explained why they came to the charity in the first place.
01:31I met a group of people who wouldn't judge me for having no confidence,
01:38who wouldn't judge me for not being able to talk in a group,
01:44or they wouldn't judge me because I was nervous and scared,
01:47and because they were all the same.
01:50I came here in the first place after my husband died suddenly,
01:54just at the end of COVID, and I had some, I didn't want to be here anymore.
02:01I attempted a couple of times.
02:03The first time I walked around the block a couple of times,
02:06I was like, no, I can't do this, I can't do this.
02:08But I came in, everybody was so welcome in,
02:11and I've been here about nearly five years now, I think.
02:16The charity can still apply for grants and recently received one from Kent County Council,
02:21but it's calling for consistent, permanent funding for suicide prevention to be restored,
02:26saying early intervention can help prevent people reaching crisis point
02:30and reduce pressure on the NHS.
02:32I contacted His Magistries Treasury for a comment, but have not yet received a response.
02:38Maisie Walker for KMTV, Margate.
