Suicide support charity sees rise in women calling

Jessica Gallier-Booth says more women are "increasingly seeking help before reaching the point of no return"

A north west suicide prevention charity has told of a "surge" in demand for its services - including a "marked rise" in the number of women.

The Martin Gallier Project, which has walk-in bases in Wirral and Cheshire, reported a 59% rise in the number of people seeking intervention compared to last year.

Founder and CEO Jessica Gallier-Booth said: "We're seeing people we've never reached before - women who've been silently struggling and mums who've been holding families together whilst falling apart themselves."

She said they were also seeing "young women facing pressures we're only just beginning to understand".

Ms Gallier-Booth said nationally 75% of suicide deaths involved men but their own data suggested the crisis was more complex, with women "increasingly seeking help before reaching the point of no return".

She told BBC Radio Merseyside they were "obviously reaching burnout and breaking point and it's amazing that they are coming forward and asking for help and we are able to give them that support".

Ms Gallier-Booth said the charity, which reported seeing a "marked rise" in the number of women users, "would never turn anyone away", but she called for funding and community support to enable them to rapidly expand to meet the growing need.

She said their team of 26 had delivered more than 51,000 life-saving suicide interventions since opening in 2019, "but the surge in demand is now stretching the small team to breaking point".

Ms Gallier-Booth said they were "doing the work of hundreds" and "without urgent funding, we can't sustain this".

Jessica Gallier-Booth, pictured with Hannah Naylor from Tranmere Rovers, at the launch of a project to support football fans with their mental health

Deryn Basnett, chief operating officer, said: "What we're seeing now is women in crisis - carers, mothers, professionals - who've been holding everything together until they can't anymore."

She said these were not "women known to the system" or with diagnoses, or who had been to A&E, they were "just women who have been carrying too much for too long".

The charity has high street bases in New Ferry, Wirral, and in Chester, Crewe and Macclesfield, with plans to open one in Liverpool in 2026.

It also provides support to anyone aged 16 or over across the north west.

The charity, which offers support seven days a week from 09:30 to 16:30 GMT, was founded by Ms Gallier-Booth following the death of her father, Martin Gallier by suicide in 2017.

She said the youngest clients they supported were 16 and their oldest was 91.

She urged any businesses looking at choosing a charity to support or anyone interested in doing a fundraiser for them to get in touch.

If you, or someone you know, have been affected by mental health issues or self-harm, the organisations in this BBC Action Line link may be able to help.