A safe place for young people in crisis
Sasha's Project
Sasha’s Project is a charity which runs a drop-in centre in Fleet. It is a safe place for young people in and around Fleet, Hampshire, who are struggling with anxiety, depression, their mental health or who are having thoughts of suicide. The drop-in centre is based at:
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The Point Youth Centre,
Harlington Way, Fleet GU51 4BP.
It is open from 9pm to 6am every Friday and Saturday night for all young people age 13 to 25yrs. We are able to offer young people the opportunity to be heard in complete confidence, in a caring, non-clinical, safe environment. It is somewhere that young people can be supported through a crisis, with the aim of reducing their risk of self-harm and suicide.
We can also equip them with basic self-help tools and support them to develop a future crisis plan, if appropriate.
Our story
Sasha’s Project is a charity which has been set up in memory of Sasha, a local girl from Fleet, who died by suicide when she was just 20.
Sasha’s struggles were exacerbated by the lack of help available to her when her mental health was poor. When she was feeling suicidal, she needed compassion, support and a safe place to go to, especially during the night. This wasn’t easily accessible.
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Currently, if a young person is in crisis in Hampshire and Surrey borders, options for help can be limited, especially during the night. With cases of suicide rising nationally, we aim to provide support that fills this gap.
Sasha’s family feel that having somewhere safe to go would have made the biggest impact on Sasha’s struggles and they want to open a crisis house, open 24/7 with facilities that allow for overnight stays. This is their long-term plan that involves raising substantial funds. In the meantime, the charity runs a drop-in centre until there is sufficient funding.
To support and help young people in suicidal crisis through:
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the provision of a safe place to young people in crisis and at risk of suicide, designed to assist them through a mental health crisis
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providing emotional support that helps reduce suicidal thoughts and behaviours
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assisting the development of their skills, capacities and capabilities to enable them to be better equipped to deal with a future crisis
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be access to all within our remit who need support, free of charge
To act as a resource for young people up to the age of 25 years, living not only in North East Hampshire, but throughout Hampshire and borders, by providing advice about suicide and the programmes and support available to them.
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Raising awareness by:
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networking and events
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associating with local authorities, voluntary organisations and residents within the area of our remit in a common effort to carry out the objectives of the group
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being open and transparent about the support we offer and the need for it
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challenging the public perception about the stigma of mental health and inspiring others to do the same
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promoting zero tolerance of suicide
Promoting our values by:
listening without prejudice and judgement
giving people the tools to help themselves out of a crisis we uphold their dignity
acting with compassion, a sense of common decency and with humanity
providing a safe space, we believe we will relieve present distress and provide
time to stabilise emotions and establish a clearer vision