Survivors of Suicide & Friends

Project: Winter Solstice
Awarded Amount: $4,000.00 | 2024 Give500 Grant
Impact Areas: Community Connection & Wellbeing

The Winter Solstice is a powerful community event that has been held every year since its inception in 2013. Taking place on the 21st of June—the longest night of the year—the date symbolises how mental illness can plunge us into darkness, while reminding us that the morning always brings light.

Now entering its 13th consecutive year, the Winter Solstice continues to provide a safe, meaningful space for conversation, remembrance, and hope. Each year, the event features three keynote speakers who share their lived experience with mental ill-health or suicide bereavement, alongside performances from local artists and community groups.

The Winter Solstice is free to attend and open to all, bringing people together to share, to remember, to fight back, and to love. Its impact is especially critical in regional areas like Albury-Wodonga, where suicide rates are significantly higher than in major cities. Research also shows that people bereaved by suicide face a greater risk of suicidal behaviour and mental ill-health—making events like the Winter Solstice an essential form of postvention and community healing.