Did you know that 1 in 5 people have suicidal thoughts? This statistic highlights how import it is to talk about suicide. Whether it’s identifying a person at risk of suicide, helping a person to stay safe or being equipped to look after your own mental health, one conversation can change a life.
What is World Suicide Prevention Day?
Every year on 10th September, the world comes together to raise awareness about suicide prevention.
The day highlights the importance of suicide prevention and how we all can play a part in reducing the stigma and support people having suicidal thoughts.
Here at STOP Suicide, our aim is to reduce the stigma around suicide across Cambridgeshire and Peterborough. We believe that ‘suicide is everybody’s business’.
It’s our mission to create a suicide-safer community by spreading awareness about the warning signs, teaching how to support via training, and providing resources and information about support available in the local community.
To help the local community understand the importance of asking directly about suicide, we spoke to two of our campaign makers Zoe Crawley and Tom Gosling who shared with us why they became a campaign makers.
What is the aim of our campaign?
The campaign for this year spreads the message ‘one conversation can change a life’. It empowers and equips individuals to have a conversation about suicide and to have an understanding of how it can help someone experiencing suicidal thoughts.
Our aim is to:
- Challenge and reduce stigma around suicide.
- Promote awareness about suicide prevention through STOP Suicide training workshops.
- Get everyone involved in creating a suicide-safer community.
In aid of the campaign, a Suicide Prevention training session with Primary Care staff will be run by Kerry Bryant, our STOP Suicide trainer.
She explained, “STOP Suicide training equips attendees with the essential skills and confidence to engage in a single, powerful conversation that can truly change a life.
Kerry goes on to add, “By providing comprehensive insights into suicide prevention, it empowers participants to recognise warning signs, approach someone in crisis, and offer support without judgement. This training instils the ability to create a safe and compassionate environment where individuals in distress feel heard and understood.”
You can also attend our funded three-hour workshop or free-to-attend taster talks and for more information please visit our training and community talks page.