Oliver Bellew's County Louth Skydive For Life Fundraiser 2026

Dear, Sir/Madame 

This letter is plea for support towards YOUTH SUICIDE PREVENTION IRELAND (YSPI) which I am set to campaign for until the 18th August.

What am I fundraising for?

 Firstly, the  crisis counselling programme where we give grants to pay for therapy for young people in immediate need. People can apply for the grant at youthcrisiscounselling.ie and, so long as they are deemed to be in need of immediate help by their GP, YSPI will pay for the counselling.

Secondly, the school resource packs that are sent out to every secondary school in the country twice a year. These packs contain 50 copies of our Let’s Talk magazine as well as copies of our other publications.

YSPI also have a service that provides mental health resource packs to the general public including sports clubs, youth groups etc as well as every Tesco and SuperValu in the country.

Why am I fundraising?

The rates of youth suicide in ireland in the last 12 years has been increasing year after year since the mass adoption of social media by kids aged 11-19. The most common result of this is anxiety which is up 137% and depression which is up 189% among teenagers worldwide. This is frightening to me and can be seen regularly among friends and friends of friends. The result of this has had a knock on effect to even greater mental health issues including self-harm which I have seen for myself whilst in school when I was asked for pencil parer by a very close friend. Then and there I thought nothing of it and made a mocking remark asking for his intentions. He laughed it off and went back to his dorm room, for next 3-4 weeks he wore long sleeve tops with bandages. I was 14 at the time.  Fortunately myself and others couldn't  keep this to ourselves and support was given.

A cousin in America in the last 5 years, died aged 26

A student in my primary school in the last year

Local boy  in the last 8 years

Anyone anywhere, for any reason. For the family, friends and the community it is a tragedy. To make a net big enough to catch these cases requires awareness, support and every able person to be ready to make a difference. 

Here is the most recent data from CSO.ie 

Data from 2021 is the latest ‘official’ data released by the Central Statistics Office, however this data does not include late registrations which can increase figures substantially. The following figures are accurate as of 31 October 2023:

• 449 people died by suicide in 2021- 359 males (80%) and 90 females (20%)

• The overall suicide rate was 9.2 per 100,000*

• The male suicide rate was 14.9 per 100,000* compared to the female suicide rate of 3.6 per 100,000*

The roots of the issues do not lay in plain sight and can not always be solved with a kind word or a hug. To bring this on-going support to our local communities can be the support that is needed and YSPI can make a difference. 

Why should I donate towards this particular campaign?

I can't give a good reason why you should support this campaign over any other. There are many good reputable charities in Ireland which focus on these issues and have fantastic teams of people and facilities to help young people and make a real difference.

What I do is throw myself out of a plane from 3 km up and plummet towards the giver of life, mother earth. The speed will be too fast for my liking and no matter how safe they tell me it is and however expensive the parachute is, I will still be absolutely petrified and will leave a spare pair of briefs in the car for precaution. Luckily I will have an expert strapped to my back and hopefully it will be a clear day on 18th August 2024. Those interested in watching on the day are welcome to join me at the IRISH PARACHUTE CLUB,

Clonbullogue Airfield, Clonad, Clonbullogue, Co. Offaly

Sincerely, 

Oliver Bellew

Oliver