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THE MARTIN GALLIER PROJECT
By Jess Gallier
I had the absolute pleasure of taking our wonderfully hardworking team to this year ’ s Wirral Life Halloween Ball , and what a night it was . We ate , danced , laughed , cried , and made friendships for life . The Wirral Life team had once again pulled off an exceptional evening of fun , pulling out all the stops to make it a Halloween to remember .
The Martin Gallier Project ( MGP ) had been chosen as the charity of the night , naturally we were over the moon . We made the decision to not bombard the guests with heads or tails , raffles , auctions , pin the tail on the donkey or musical chairs . We knew that everyone just wanted to have fun with their friends after such a long time of being cooped up . Instead we explained what we do with a two minute video and requested that the guests dug deep to support the life saving work that MGP do . We were absolutely delighted with the whopping £ 3,600.76 raised and were overjoyed with some beautiful offers of support from fellow guests . We would like to thank Wirral Life for backing us always , the guests who donated on the night , those who pledged their continued support for the future and every single person who took the time to listen to what we do .
Raising money is absolutely crucial for what we do ; however raising awareness is the most valuable gift we can receive . It is absolutely fundamental to breaking the stigma that surrounds suicide and mental illness . We sincerely hope that none of the 250 guests from Friday ’ s event will ever need our support , yet statistically we know that 12 potentially will , let that sink in . Those 12 people now know where to turn should crisis hit and that wouldn ’ t be possible without us being invited to talk at events like these .
How much of a difference will these donations make to The Martin Gallier Project ? Every £ 80 raised allows the incredible team at The Martin Gallier Project to save a life . Thanks to the generosity of the Wirral Life Ball guests , we can now save a further 45 lives . That ’ s 45 families who won ’ t have to suffer the immeasurable pain of losing someone they love to suicide . It is believed that on average
135 people are impacted by each suicide . As you can imagine the heartache that plagues family , friends and colleagues following a death by suicide can be crippling and almost impossible to shake . This means that your money will touch the lives of 6,076 people . Thank you .
I missed the event but would still love to get involved , what can I do to help ? There are so many ways to get involved with the life saving work that happens in the MGP building and they ’ re not all financial . Volunteer your spare time with us , arrange a fundraising activity , ask your workplace to get involved with our Workplace Wellbeing packages , attend our Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training or simply follow us on social media and help to spread our messages of hope .
I ’ ve been struggling lately , can The Martin Gallier Project help me ? Of course . The Martin Gallier Project supports any adult ( 16 +) who is considering or who has considered suicide . We can also help those supporting a loved one through crisis or individuals who have been bereaved by suicide . We do not have , and will never have a waiting list . All of our workers have both lived and professional experience of suicide meaning they not only understand , they care !
Getting in touch with us has never been easier , you can selfrefer via themartingallierproject . org and your dedicated Suicide Intervention Worker will be in touch within 24 hours . Our support is confidential , impartial and has proven successful for over 8,000 people thus far . Best of all , it ’ s totally free .
The Martin Gallier Project is open 7 days a week 9.30am-16.30pm . Support can be accessed via www . themartingallierproject . org , triage @ gallierhouse . co . uk or 0151 644 0294 . Samaritans are available 24 / 7 on 116 123 . If you or someone else are in immediate danger or have already taken action always dial 999 .
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