A warm thank you to all who contributed to our appeal and helped make it possible for an individual to turn their life around.
Radio 4 listeners contributed £6,179 to Maytree’s appeal which aired, fittingly, on World Suicide Prevention Day, September 2017.
In December 2017 – a short time after the broadcast - a 49-year old man in genuine despair contacted Maytree. During his subsequent stay, we addressed his anxiety issues and for the first time since falling into suicidal crisis, he detailed the measures he’d already taken to try end his life. We also uncovered that the feelings he was consumed by stemmed from earlier traumas in his life: The decision he took to distance himself from his two children after their mother left him for another man, the anger he felt upon discovering that one of his children had recently been sexually assaulted and the guilt he was consumed by for being unable to protect her.
Upon his departure, our guest cited talks with different volunteers as helpful and revealing, acknowledged that his anxiety had decreased markedly and that his Maytree experience had given him a fresh perspective. On our follow-up phone call a fortnight later, he revealed that he’d returned to work and had begun planning for a holiday in the summer. Two ordinarily routine actions but monumental steps in this instance.
At the heart of our work rests the core belief that every individual in suicidal crisis should have a safe space to turn to. This belief is realised in the form of a humble and friendly volunteer-ran terraced house in North London: a space where individuals in suicidal crisis receive non-medical, non-judgemental specialist befriending services for five days, during which time the individual can be heard, understood and supported.
You can find out more about the charity .