A GOOD Samaritan from Cirencester is setting up a project for people who suffer from mental health problems, depression and self-harm.

Sue Ozolins, 52, has been supporting people with mental health issues for more than 30 years. She is now calling for the Cirencester community to help her set up a local office where she can support sufferers in the town.

With depression awareness day on April 20, Sue decided to make a bigger impact in Cirencester, and wants to expand her online project Accept Adapt by setting up an office.

She wants to give sufferers the chance to sit down and talk one-to-one with a professional rather than just go online.

“I know it’s going to take me over a year to get this project off the ground, and to actually fund offices in Cirencester, and a lot of hard work, but I’ve already been down that route before and I know what to expect,” said Sue, who herself has suffered from self-harming in the past.

“I need everything; a room to work from, funding, volunteers, trustees, but it’s a challenge starting with nothing and making it into something,” she added.

At the moment, people contribute from all over the world to Sue’s online site but she is keen to bring it forward and allow people to talk to a professional one-on-one.

She has lived in Cirencester for 10 years and wants to get the scheme off the ground in her hometown first.

Some time ago she set up Swindon SPEAR (self-preservation encouraging active response) and raised more than £600,000 during nine years supporting thousands of self-harmers. The project closed just a few years after she left.

“I want to support people to help themselves, to improve their coping skills and problem solving,” she said. “To ensure they have a sense of optimism and a multitude of reasons for living.

“The majority of people who self-harm are trying to preserve their life not end it, it’s a coping method to deal with painful emotional feelings.”

One in five people will suffer from some form of depression at one point in their life. And Sue said that back in 1996, when she was self-harming, she was not taken seriously and was told she was attention-seeking.

She is now striving to change this type of response and show sufferers that help is out there.

Email info@acceptadapt.com if you think you can help or work with Sue on her project. She will be giving up her time to work on the project six days a month and is specifically looking for a room in town where she can work on Fridays. She aims to have the Cirencester scheme running by March next year.