NEW North Belfast Ulster Unionist Party representative Julie-Anne Corr-Johnston has called for more funding support for the services of a local mental health and suicide prevention charity.
She was speaking after a visit to PIPS Charity on the Antrim Road this week.
"I drive past this building every day but this visit hit home its value and importance to North Belfast," she said.
"With over 11,500 people availing of services throughout the 2020-2021 period it's no exaggeration when I say it has saved the lives of many and been a hand in the dark giving people that support to pull themselves up and out.
"I am concerned and dismayed however that this invaluable charity receives no core funding from our government yet plugs those gaps in statutory services. An occurance, since 2008 when it was first established, that I intend to reverse.
"Mental health is a subject close to my heart, largely through experience, an experience I survived but too many haven't.
"It's incumbent of us, those of us in positions of influence, to not just offer warm words of encouragement and hope but rather act and deliver the tangible outcomes these organisations need to service their users and service them well."
