Grant awarded to SPIIOW will help maintain much needed services

The Isle of Wight’s suicide prevention and intervention organisation has received a ‘Crisis Appeal’ cash boost grant to help them with the purchase of much needed equipment.

Six of the Island’s trusts and foundations have teamed up to ensure critical charities get the support they need during the Covid-19 crisis. Following an Appeal for donations by the Isle of Wight Council, which has raised over £11,000, the Island’s High Sheriff Geoff Underwood invited trusts and foundations on the Island to get together and pull their resources for a 3 month period.

Sarah Adams of Suicide Prevention & Intervention IOW (SPIIOW) said “This is such fantastic news for all of us at SPIIOW. We have been granted £2,400 to purchase more equipment and to better add to our current services we are offering during the COVID-19 pandemic – The impact of social isolation on a person’s mental health could be worse than the coronavirus itself – with the loss of income and a down turn in businesses along with the loneliness it could result in increases in depression, addictions and suicide.

“We are already working hard behind the scenes to start adding to our current services and will have an update for you shortly.

“I would like to take this opportunity to say thank you to so much to The Hampshire and Isle of Wight Community Foundation, The Daisie Rich Trust, The IW Sports Foundation, The Isle of Wight Foundation, The High Sheriff’s Trust and WightAID who have all joined forces for these grants.”

For more information on what SPI do, please see www.spiiow.org.