Ms Gwen McKenna:

Value for money, that is it. At the heart of it all are the family members and what they go through. We do not see family members as victims but as people in their own right. They get support and education. We work with Frances. The CYPSCs fund us to deliver a programme. The ten-week programme is done at RISE.

In 2024, some 39 people went through the programme. When they come back they have made changes in their lives. They have discovered new things and come back into the peer support group. Everything goes back to the peer support group, because you can maintain your changes and live your life there. Through that, it is about giving back to the community.

The stigma is horrendous. Based on my own experience, I would have said, "Do not go down near that family, do not get in touch with them, do not be part of that at all," but when it came to my own doorstep it opened my eyes completely. Now we are the voices for the families in the north east but we cannot do this on our own. We do not do it on our own. We are linked in with FARI and all of the agencies in Dublin as well.