PAPYRUS goes into administration

PAPYRUS Prevention of Young Suicide has gone into administration and the charity has closed with immediate effect.

This is devastating news for us personally.

PAPYRUS has been a huge part of the 3 Dads Walking journey since we first came together after losing our daughters. We have walked thousands of miles, spoken to countless people and raised more than £1.5 million because we believed passionately in the work PAPYRUS was doing to prevent young suicide.

Most importantly, we have seen first-hand the difference PAPYRUS has made to young people and families across the country.

Two days before World Suicide Prevention Day, we have lost access to a unique, specialist life-saving service – HOPELINE247.

HOPELINE247 was a crisis support service for young people experiencing suicidal thoughts and for anyone concerned about a young person. It was staffed by suicide prevention experts, specifically trained to understand suicide and to help people through moments of extreme crisis.

We know that services within the NHS and CAMHS have signposted young people and families to HOPELINE247 and relied on the expertise of PAPYRUS to provide support that they could not always provide themselves.

And yet this vital national service has not received the level of sustained government funding needed to secure its future.

Instead, HOPELINE247 has been underpinned to a significant degree by charitable donations and fundraising – including money raised by bereaved parents like us, who have turned the worst experiences of our lives into a determination to prevent other families suffering the same devastation.

We find that incredibly difficult to accept.

How can a service that is relied upon by the NHS, that specialises in preventing young suicide and that has supported countless young people in their darkest moments be left financially dependent on charitable fundraising?

This is not simply the closure of another charity, it is the loss of a service that has been helping to keep young people alive.

We need to be honest about what happens when vital services disappear.

The NHS is already under enormous pressure. CAMHS is under enormous pressure. Charities and other organisations in the third sector have been filling gaps, supporting people who might otherwise have nowhere to turn.

When those organisations can no longer survive, the pressure doesn't disappear. It moves somewhere else – and ultimately it falls on the NHS, families and the people who desperately need help.

The financial squeeze facing charities is real. Rising costs, increasing demand and a difficult fundraising environment have placed enormous pressure on organisations across the country.

But when that financial squeeze results in the loss of a specialist suicide prevention service, we have to ask whether the way we fund these essential services is fundamentally wrong.

Suicide remains the biggest killer of under-35s, around 250 school-aged children die by suicide every year and suicide remains the biggest killer of men under 50.

We cannot continue to talk about suicide prevention as though it is a priority while allowing specialist services to disappear because they cannot secure the funding they need.

This should be a wake-up call.

Government needs to recognise that suicide prevention is not an optional extra. It is a public health responsibility.

Our thoughts today are with the PAPYRUS staff and volunteers, many of whom have devoted years of their lives to supporting young people in crisis. We are also thinking about the young people and families who have relied on PAPYRUS and its services.

We want to thank every person, organisation, school, business, community group and supporter who has stood alongside PAPYRUS and 3 Dads Walking over the years.

You have helped save lives.

We are still trying to take in what has happened. The news has also come as a shock to us, and we need some time to talk and decide how we respond and, importantly, how we move forward as 3 Dads Walking.

Opus Restructuring & Insolvency have been appointed as Joint Administrators. They are now looking at whether any of PAPYRUS's vital services can be transferred to other organisations.

We know there will be many questions about what happens next. We don't have all the answers yet, but we will say more when we do.

For now, we simply want to say thank you to everyone who has been part of the PAPYRUS journey.

And to every member of the PAPYRUS team who has worked tirelessly to prevent young suicide:

Thank you.

Andy, Mike and Tim