#TalkSuicide, the Humber, Coast and Vale Health and Care Partnership’s campaign to reduce the stigma around suicide through the provision of suicide prevention training, has reached a major milestone. Despite the challenges of delivering training and engaging with partners through the Covid-19 pandemic, in the past year over 6,500 people have completed #TalkSuicide training, provided by the Zero Suicide Alliance.
According to the Office for National Statistics, there were 5,691 suicides registered in England and Wales in 2019, with Yorkshire and the Humber seeing the highest rates of suicide in both men and women across the country. Suicide prevention training enables communities to be better placed to identify those people who might be suffering from suicidal thoughts, knowing what to say to them in these circumstances, and signposting them to the most appropriate services.
Since February 2020, a total of 6,579 people have completed #TalkSuicide training, free of charge, through online workshops, or at face-to-face events held before the start of the coronavirus pandemic. This equates to one person being trained every 79 minutes. The campaign has actively involved NHS organisations and councils across Humber, Coast and Vale, and businesses have been encouraged to offer the training to their staff, with a range of free resources available online at talksuicide.co.uk/employers.
During the training, which takes as little as 20 minutes to complete, individuals are taught how to identify the signs of when someone might be suffering from suicidal thoughts, feel comfortable speaking out about suicide in a supportive manner and to signpost anyone suffering to the correct services and support.
Organisations to have offered #TalkSuicide training to their staff include Humberside Fire & Rescue Service; Hull-based companies KWL and Kexgill Group; East Yorkshire’s Hull Collegiate School and Premier Modular; Millers Fish and Chips in York; and Scunthorpe’s Bradbury Group.
The Humber, Coast and Vale Suicide Prevention team should feel immensely proud of their achievements over the past year. We know the difference #TalkSuicide makes, and this was highlighted recently by a colleague who came to the assistance of a member of the public on their way home from work a few weeks ago. A young lady was attempting to take her own life on a bridge on a Hull bypass, and thankfully the team member’s intervention and knowledge through their own training, kept her safe until the emergency services arrived. We need to ensure more people have this knowledge at hand to help save more lives.
Thank you to every individual and businesses who has been involved and who continue to support #TalkSuicide. Knowing that so many people in our region have completed the training over the past 12 months is great motivation as we continue to work to prevent suicides in our communities.
We want to train as many people as possible so if you’re interested in completing free suicide prevention training, or if you know of an employer who may be interested in offering suicide prevention training to their staff, please visit www.talksuicide.co.uk to find out more.
Please read our most recent #TalkSuicide media release.
Take the training. Save a life. #TalkSuicide