Two webinar sessions have been organised by the Government to provide more information on the £10m VCSE Suicide Prevention Grants.

The Department of Health and Social Care has revealed it will be holding two 'Meet The Funder' webinar sessions - on Thursday September 7 at 10.30-11am and Tuesday September 12 at 10.30-11am - to go into futher detail about the funds.

It follows the announcment, on August 25th, that the £10m fund had been launched to support suicide prevention activities delivered in England by VCSE organisations in 2023 to 2025. 

Organisations have until October 1 to apply to the fund via the Find a Grant portal. 

The Government is particularly - but not exclusively - interested in applications to fund suicide prevention activity targeted at: 

  • population groups that we consider to be ‘groups of concern’, based on evidence and data (including numbers, rates and trends), stakeholder engagement and expert views. These include:
    • children and young people
    • middle-aged men
    • people who have previously self-harmed
    • people in contact with mental health services
    • people in contact with the justice system
    • autistic people
    • pregnant women and new mothers
  • geographic areas where demand for services is greatest and where there are disparities in provision and access to services, compared to other regions in England
  • more marginalised groups, such as ethnic minority groups including Gypsy Roma and Traveller communities, and LGBTQ+ communities

The department is also encouraging organisations to apply if a proposed project does not meet some of any of the above criteria, as long as the project meets the objectives of the fund. 

The recently-announced Meet The Funder webinars will briefly describe the objectives of the grant, who is eligible to apply and provide some pointers on the application process. 

It alos aims to provide the opportunity for prospective applicants to put questions to the grant team about applying to the fund. 

To attend a webinar, email suicidepreventiongrant@dhsc.gov.uk to receive a sign-up link.