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For the Fallen
We provide confidential, peer to peer support for families affected by suicide within the military community- this includes both serving and ex-serving families. We signpost to other organisations who can provide military sensitive bereavement counselling, as well as other organisations that may be of use to our families. We are run and maintained by families who have been affected by suicide, thus providing a safe and mutually supportive environment within our support group. We also provide a collective voice with lived experience to feed into suicide prevention and understanding within the military community, with a collaborative approach, to reducing suicide and promoting family centred learning and early intervention. We do this through participating in research, conferences and networking. Our aim is to reduce the stigma, share learning and prevent suicide while supporting those families who have been affected.
How does your organisation contribute to preventing suicide and supporting those affected by it?
We encourage families to become a collective voice and to share their lived experience with organisations in both the private and public sector in order to raise awareness of break down the stigma of suicide. We see this shared learning as a legacy to our loved ones. We take part in conferences, training opportunities, interviews, podcasts and research in order to utilise the lived experience of those affected by suicide within the military community to help to shape policies and procedures, as well as supporting families through the process of their grief.
What are your current priorities?
Our current priorities are to reach more families in order to offer support and signposting as well as to feed into suicide prevention and awareness of suicide prevention within the military community. We are currently working with Northumbria University and the baton Charity in a research project solely designed by families who have been bereaved by suicide in order to create a model of safety for suicide prevention as well as impact policies moving forward, this has been funded by the Armed Forces Covenant Trust Fund which includes collaboration of many different projects with the families at the heart of intervention proposals and improvements, using current provisions.
What challenges are you currently facing?
We currently face difficulty in reaching families who have been bereaved by suicide within the military community due to lack of knowledge of our existence as well as the stigma attached to suicide and bereavement.