SOS started in 2015 when married couple Michael and Yvette Mansfield decided to take action after experiencing personal losses to suicide. Recognising the stigma and silence surrounding mental health struggles and suicide, they founded SOS as a support group to encourage open and shame-free conversations about these difficult topics.

As a small charity, SOS faces considerable challenges, especially in meeting the huge demand for their phone mental health support services, which launched in August 2020. As they reintroduce their highly successful and well-attended in-person support meetings, the demand continues to grow.

A core part of SOS’s mission is advocating for more compassion in our society. They aim to promote understanding, tolerance, and kindness to support those struggling with mental health issues and suicidal thoughts. Though operating on a small scale, SOS makes a big impact by empowering open dialogue to fight stigma. Their restart of in-person meetings marks an exciting milestone as the charity continues to work to provide critical mental health support.