About us
Sunrise: “the colours and light that you see in the eastern part of the sky when the sun first appears”
Serena
Co-Founder and Director Serena is a holistic therapist and yoga teacher with her own business Blossom Sky Wellbeing. Serena also has 14 years of experience working in the charity sector, specifically in marketing and fundraising for a number of charities and CICs (Community Interest Companies), as well as people management and finance.
Elliott
Co-founder and Director Elliott is a freelancer working in festivals, communications and events, with a long career in people management and face-to-face customer relations.
Hazel
Director Hazel’s background consists of over 30 years within the NHS and now works in healthcare education. Hazel uses the creative arts to practice mindfulness.
Jasmin
Director Jasmin has 15 years' experience in marketing and fundraising for charities and management at senior levels, as well as mentoring people who have a wide range of challenges including addiction, poor mental health, victims of crime and ex-offenders.
Offering support to people exposed to suicide
At Sunrise, we want to offer support to people exposed to suicide by providing safe spaces to meet, talk and share – as little or as much as they are comfortable with – through music, art and wellbeing events, workshops and activities.
Our sessions are for friends, siblings, parents, partners, family members and colleagues – anyone who been affected by suicide. We will offer them a safe, welcoming and supportive place to bring some positivity to their lives, during an extremely difficult time. We want to create a sense of comfort, community and connections through opportunities for self-expression and self-care.
Our sessions will be run by experts in their industries (music, art or wellbeing) and supported by trained Sunrise Facilitators, all with lived experience of losing someone to suicide who are now living their lives in hopeful and healthful ways.
Sunrise was founded by Directors Serena and her husband Elliott, along with long-time friend Jasmin who with Hazel are also Directors. The Sunrise collective is growing with many friends, family members and colleague already offering support.
Serena's story
“In January 2019, I lost my younger brother Sonny to suicide. He was 35 when he died. His passing was devastating, and it changed our world. He was a brilliant person – so funny, clever and talented. He was an incredible musician and artist and was so loved by everyone who met him, But for 14 years he suffered with debilitating mental illness, and we along with his friends and the wider family felt so lost in how to help him , He had attempted suicide before, and when he did take his life it was a terrible awful shock, but something that tragically we feared may happen. We were always living on the edge of its eventuality.
Prior to Sonny’s death, we had lost other loved ones to suicide. A mutual best friend and two of Sonny’s childhood friends when they were in their late teens. Each one beautiful souls, who devastatingly saw no way out of their pain but to take their lives. The culmination if these events resulted in my own breakdown.
With 2 young children, I had to take time off work to rebuild myself so I could be the best mum and wife I could be. I made the decision to leave my career in marketing and fundraising in the charity sector and retrain as a holistic therapist. I threw myself into learning about the body, mind and soul connection, the process supporting me deeply with my own bereavement knowing that I could hopefully help others feel better.
Through Sunrise, we aim to support people who have been affected by suicide and to create a community. We aim to hold regular events, workshops and activities with music or art at their core, in memory of Sonny. Self-expression and creativity can be helpful and hopeful ways to cope with loss.
We will also be including wellbeing and self-care in the mix, as so often we are left to ‘get through’ without any advice on how to help ourselves mentally, physically or emotionally after going through such traumatic experiences.”
In memory of Sonny x
