Announcement of charity closure - planned for end of June 2024

SBS for Cumbria and surrounding areas has today (Monday 4 September 2023) made a difficult announcement to its members:

Suicide Bereavement Support (SBS) Cumbria was set up as a mutual support organisation with charitable status and it is run by volunteers who have been bereaved by suicide themselves. Due to various pressures and personal circumstances, it is no longer possible to run the organisation on this basis and it has been decided by the Trustees that the charity is to be wound up over the coming months, finally closing at the end of June 2024.

“Over a period of 13 years, our volunteers have carried out bereavement support work across Cumbria and the surrounding areas and we’ve been extremely proud to have offered vital support to around 500 individuals in a variety of ways,” says Emily Griffiths, Chair of Trustees. “Others have also told us they have benefitted from the group simply by knowing we were there if needed. We are planning a sensitive approach to a careful closing, reassured that the local support situation is very different from when we started. As our own activities reduce in the months ahead, we will signpost people to a range of support available from both local and national organisations that share our aims and priorities.”

Trustees have decided that the five SBS Cumbria support groups (one online and four across Cumbria) will have their final meetings in the coming months. Carlisle’s last meeting will be in September, Kendal’s in November and the final meeting in Barrow will be in December. The Whitehaven meeting will continue into 2024, as may the online Zoom meeting.

The phone lines, email address, website and Facebook activity will remain active but gradually winding down to the end of June 2024, ensuring that access to local information and support continues for as long as possible. Volunteers will continue to respond and signpost until then.

“Volunteers will either be having a well-deserved rest or continuing to contribute to the conversation around suicide bereavement in other capacities,” says Emily. “We have engaged with numerous other agencies and partners to highlight the need for appropriate support for those bereaved by suicide and believe we have contributed significantly to service developments. Thank you to everyone - John Brown (our previous Chair), all our volunteers, fundraisers and donors – for everything they have done to support us. We will be posting updates on our decisions on our website in the coming months.”