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Catriona said critical to Hope\u2019s care was that there were no wait times, it was local, free to access and tailored to suicide grief.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy mum had died six months beforehand and it\u2019s a totally different grief \u2013 it\u2019s absolutely all-consuming but you\u2019ve still got to function as a family, you\u2019ve still got to watch where the other kids are at,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019ve got things to do. You\u2019ve got the Coroner\u2019s Court to deal with, you\u2019ve got the police to deal with, so you still have to function to a degree.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you didn\u2019t have this service and you were seeking some assistance you could possibly be waiting for many, many weeks or months to be seen and that\u2019s the reality of how the situation is.\u201d<\/p>\n
Catriona said Hope was amazing in how it supported everyone affected by the suicide.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was the mother of Tom but Hope has also supported my kids, Tom\u2019s friends, Tom\u2019s friends\u2019 parents, the school and its staff \u2013 so it\u2019s the whole community,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey have been on the frontline with everything.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hope Bereavement board member Danny Keating helped to establish the support programs following the heartbreaking suicide of his 25-year-old son Sam in July 2014.<\/p>\n
Danny facilitates a monthly meeting for men who have lost a loved one to suicide, providing a forum for them to discuss their grief.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have round table discussions and it works because blokes are more likely to talk openly about their feelings in an all-male environment,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne of the extraordinary things about that is some of the men lost loved ones decades ago and they are still suffering.<\/p>\n
\u201cOften the death is a hell of a shock so it\u2019s unique in that way.<\/p>\n
Suicide death is also unique in lots of other ways \u2013 some families are embarrassed about it and some refuse to talk about it.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s also extraordinary how it affects so many people.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hope Bereavement\u2019s suicide support programs have received $300,000 in Freemasons funding during the past four years.<\/p>\n
Danny said efforts to get government funding had proved fruitless because Hope was seen as a post-suicide service rather than a preventative one, although he said that was not technically the case.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are extremely grateful to The Freemasons for their concern and generosity,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe reality is that without them we wouldn\u2019t be providing these vital services.\u201d<\/p>\n