Funding Blow For Suicidal Patients

Vital services for people at risk of suicide will close in weeks due to a cash crisis. Mind in Manchester needs £100,000 a year to carry on helping 120 people with severe mental health problems.

The organisation, based in Ardwick Green, will axe two full-time project leaders and more than 70 volunteers. It will continue to exist, but only as an information service.

In Manchester last year, 45 people committed suicide – up from 34 in 2005. But funding for Mind in Manchester ends in May and health bosses have declined to provide more cash.

Justin Larner, manager of Mind in Manchester, said: “For 28 years we have been a lifeline for thousands of people experiencing mental ill-health.”