As from November, the government will stop giving funds to the Richmond Foundation to run is 24/7 mental health helpline.

The service has helped hundreds of people who needed comfort and attention at a time of difficulty, with the numbers growing during the Covid-19 pandemic, at a time when social activities were banned and loneliness took over, especially among people who live on their own.

The decision to stop the funds comes at a time when there is also growing concern about the rising number of suicide cases and suicide attempts. There have been 143 suicides since 2017 and we’re told that there are between five to 10 suicide attempts every week.

The funds will be stopped as the government intends to open a new helpline, one which is government-run, unlike the one run by the Richmond Foundation, an NGO.

The Richmond helpline has been established for many years, and is administered by people with experience in the field. So the question that needs to be asked – and which the government has so far failed to answer – is why dismantle a system which is working to build a new one?

In comments to The Malta Independent on Sunday, Richmond Foundation CEO Stephania Dimech Sant questioned why the government has opted for this solution. The foundation was receiving €10,000 a month from the government – not big money, in the grand scheme of things, and so one wonders why the government has opted for this solution.

For one thing, people with mental issues need stability in their life as much as possible, and even a shift from one service to another – including a change of the telephone number they have to dial when they need assistance – would be something of a trauma for them.

This stability also means that they need time to build up confidence to speak up, with some of them opening up to the other person on the line after several calls. Grech Sant said that some callers are showing anxiety issues when they have been told that the service which is now available – on number 1770 – will change.

“The organisation has a lot of experience and trained people for the helpline,” Dimech Sant said. No complaints were received and the service was up to standard. The helpline was initially run from Monday to Friday between 8am and 8pm, but “emotional” and “distress” calls during the pandemic had pushed the government to ask Richmond to expand its service to cover 24 hours a day, seven days a week. From a few dozen calls, the number grew to around 1,000 a month.

Now, after “using” the Richmond Foundation’s service when it was mostly in need, the government has decided to stop funding the system and create one of its own. So far, little is known about the new service. When The Malta Independent on Sunday asked about it, we were told that more information will be given in due course.

It’s a pity that the government has chosen to go down this road.