Tracey Roberts, who founded the project in memory of her daughter, said the lack of funding was “absolutely disheartening”
Tracey Roberts, founder of The Jade L Roberts Project
A women’s mental health charity had a lucky escape after a fire broke out in a neighbouring property. But all is not well at the Jade L Roberts Project in Anfield as it faces an uncertain future.
Charity founder Tracey Roberts said the charity may be forced to close at the end of the month after being denied National Lottery funding, and further appeals for donations have fallen on deaf ears.
She said: “Our doors are still open, but we are still waiting for funding. It’s absolutely disheartening. I was on BBC North West last week but nothing came of it, nothing at all. I’m shocked to be honest.
“Look how much Zoe’s Place raised. There’s money out there. Whatever they say about the cost of living, there is money out there. I was shocked that nothing came of it. I was expecting the phone to be ringing all day but we got nothing at all.”
The Jade L Roberts Project was founded in memory of Jade, a mum-of-two who tragically took her own life in April 2021 – just a few hours after she was caught on camera laughing and playing with her two young sons.
It provides mental health counselling and suicide intervention services specifically to women, addressing factors commonly affecting women’s mental health such as domestic violence.
Jack Roberts, Tracey Roberts, Donna Sharp, Caitlyn Tablot and Annie Martin at The Jade L Roberts Project(Image: Iain Watts)
The charity applied for National Lottery funding last month ago in the hope of getting £400,000, which would fund the project’s services until 2029. But Jade’s mum Tracey, who founded the charity three years ago, said their application had been unsuccessful because there was “too much competition” in Liverpool.
The charity was dealt a further blow last week, after a fire broke out in an adjoining property. Luckily, the charity headquarters were not affected, and business continued as usual the following day.
Jade’s brother Jack, who also works at the Project, said: “It would have been history in the making if the Project had been damaged. It would have been the icing on the cake really, but thank God it wasn’t.
“We had a phone call from our landlord that a fire had broken out by the Project, and we had to go down immediately, which we did. Tracey went down and we handed over the keys to the emergency services and police to check inside the building, and we found out it (the fire) was just above the building and they caught it just in time.”
Merseyside Fire and emergency scene on Rocky Lane junction with Grange Street, Liverpool.(Image: Liverpool ECHO)
Despite this, Tracey said the charity will be forced to close if it unable to pay for its upkeep beyond April. She said: “Talk about feeling deflated all the time, but we just have to keep going. It’s all I can do.
“The suicide rate is the highest it has been since 1999, most of the interventions we have done are for women. Most of the focus is on men under 35; there is very little focus on women and its rly frustrating for me, because most of the people we support are women.”
The North West has the highest suicide rate in England and Wales, according to the latest figures from the Office for National Statistics, collected in 2023. Men accounted for around three-quarters of suicide deaths registered in 2023, with 4,506 male deaths being registered, and 1,563 female deaths.
But data showed that suicide rates for both men and women were on the rise, with the number of men taking their own lives reaching its highest point since 1999. For women the increase was even worse, with female suicide rates reaching their highest point since 1994.
Tracey said: “We are the only charity in our area who specifically support women and it’s not just intervention, but prevention, which is so important and that’s where counselling comes in. We’re a little project and we’re not getting the recognition we deserve.”