The Wimmera Suicide Prevention and Support Network officially formed at a meeting last week.

It comes after Wesley Mission hosted a community proposal meeting in Horsham in February, which attracted widespread interest and culminated in community members voting to establish a network in the region.

Wesley Mission focuses on educating people about suicide, challenging attitudes, and teaching basic engagement and intervention skills.

Community development co-ordinator Trisha Stephens said the new network had already started connecting people to support services.

“Many people don’t know what services are available and how to engage with them,” she said.

“We had a few people from Warracknabeal at the meeting who didn’t know they had a youth worker in the area, so some of the service providers at the meeting were able to give them those contact details.

“We had a great combination of service providers at the meeting who were able to provide a bit of a directory for people.

“It was also great to see the amount of community members who came purely because they were concerned about the suicide rate in this area.”

Research published by Sane Australia late last year showed suicide rates in rural areas were consistently 40 per cent higher than in metropolitan areas.

Ms Stephens said the meeting included a discussion about the issues that could be contributing to suicide rates.

“Some of the things raised were limited staff, and finding the right pathways to go down other than GPs,” she said.

“Representatives from headspace said they would like to see a services directory including both face to face and phone services that are available to people.

“The group also identified improved access and increased knowledge around pathways to support as focuses, and they would also like to start a bereavement group for people who have lost loved ones.

“We also discussed who should be involved with the group, and people would like to speak to Member for Lowan Emma Kealy, football clubs to engage younger men, ambulance services, and Wimmera Health Care Group staff.

“That’s our goal for our next meeting – to have those people involved.”

Ms Stephens said the group also discussed the safety guidelines that were in place for group meetings, which will run monthly.

“These are to protect people with lived experience,” she said.

“They are about making sure you check in with someone after the meeting or do something you enjoy – it’s about looking after yourself first.”

The group has appointed an interim secretary, and will vote on a committee in the future.

Ms Stephens said it would take six to eight months to officially set up the group and ensure it would be sustainable.

The network’s next meeting is on April 23, with a venue to be confirmed.

"We are trying a few venues to see where everyone is comfortable with,” Ms Stephens said.

“We are looking at headspace Horsham for the next meeting, or one of Horsham’s yoga venues. Both of these places are happy to donate the spaces for us to use, which is important so we don’t have to tap into our seed funding.”

Wesley has provided $5000 for the Horsham group.