HUGG Launches Strategic Plan and Shares Impact Report: A Vision for Hope After Suicide - Suicide Support Groups

Yesterday, 21 May 2025, we gathered in a room filled with compassion, courage, and hope to officially launch HUGG’s 2025–2029 Strategic Plan and share the impact of our work over recent years. It was a deeply moving and energising event and a significant milestone for our organisation and community.

The event was hosted by Senator Evanne Ní Chuilinn who not only guided us through the morning but also shared her own lived experience of suicide bereavement, setting a powerful tone of honesty and connection from the outset.

Throughout the morning, we heard heartfelt and courageous stories from members of the HUGG community. Their words reminded us all of the enduring pain of suicide loss, and also of the strength that can emerge when we feel truly supported and understood.

Fiona Tuomey, Founder and CEO introduced our vision and direction for our 2025–2029 strategy, rooted in the needs of those we serve:

An Ireland where those bereaved by suicide find support, hope and are free from stigma.

Highlights from the HUGG Impact Report and Strategic Plan 2025–2029 included:

People who engage with HUGG often describe the experience as life-changing, even life-saving.
In 2024, there were 1,798 moments of connection with people bereaved by suicide. Behind each of those moments is a person, a story, and a need that was met with compassion.
Our approach is grounded in the belief that postvention is prevention—supporting people after a suicide is essential, because we know that those bereaved by suicide are at significantly higher risk for mental health challenges and suicidal distress themselves.
Over the next five years, we will focus on growing access, amplifying lived experience, expanding our telephone support line, building advocacy initiatives, and deepening our research work to inform national policy and awareness.

This plan reflects a simple but powerful belief: there is hope after suicide.

We’re proud of how far HUGG has come—but even more inspired by where we’re going.

Thank you to everyone who joined us for this special day and who contributed to this strategy. Special thanks to those who shared their personal stories so courageously and to Sammy Copley for closing out the event with his heartfelt song, Michael’s Tree.

Click below to read the full Strategic Plan and Impact Report:

Strategic Plan: Connection and Hope- Transforming Lives Together 2025-2029

Impact Report: Our first seven years of social impact 2017-2024