A week of hope

While I wish more than anything that my role wasn’t needed because we’d found the magic key which mean that no-one felt that suicide was the answer to the things they were experiencing, I love my job and the people I get to work alongside and connect with across Scotland and beyond. This week has been one of those weeks where those connections have felt extra special.

I have had the joy of connecting with Natalie and Anton who founded A Place Called Here after they lost Natalies dad Mick to suicide. A Place Called Here is a peer support group which meets every Wednesday evening in St Catherine’s Church Hall in Balornock Glasgow from 7:30 until 9pm. Natalie has been telling me for months I needed to come along to the group to see what goes on and the impact it has on the people who attend. I’m always reluctant to go into groups like this, not because I don’t want to, but because I always feel it’s really important for the people who attend the group to have the opportunity to have their space without the imposition of someone like me turning up and taking up their space. It was only after Natalie reminded me that I was also someone bereaved by suicide and that the group would be really keen to meet me that I agreed to go along.

So on the 10th of June, I went along to the group. I was greeted at the door in the same way that everyone else was, a hug and a warm welcome from Anton and other group members. Natalie then met me inside and told me what to expect from the evening. The lovely F, made me a cup of tea and I sat in the circle beside a lovely lady who told me about losing her sister to suicide and how much the group had helped her. There were hugs and warm welcomes between all the group members and at 7:30, Anton kicked off the session. Everyone had the opportunity to introduce themselves and say who they had lost to suicide but no-one was forced to talk if they didn’t want to. For a couple of the people there, it was the anniversary of their loved ones death. They had brought photos along and told stories about him which helped everyone understand what a fun loving cheeky chappie he had been. There was more tea at the half way point and then everyone had the chance to talk about more about what they got from the group and how grateful they were to the other group members for their love and support which stretches beyond the weekly meetings to whatsapp group support and some wellbeing sessions held every month.

I’m sure people hearing about a suicide bereavement peer support group must think it would be a sad and depressing experience but I came out of the group having had a laugh at their stories, a cry at their loss and with an enormous sense of hope and gratitude that there are people like Natalie and Anton who work tirelessly to make sure people bereaved by suicide get the support they need. I wish there had been A Place Called Here when I lost my uncle Joe to suicide, a safe space where I could have talked to other people who just understood how I was feeling, who weren’t afraid to talk about suicide and who would allow me to talk about the life Joe had led. If you have been bereaved by suicide and need a space to connect with people who understand then A Place Called Here is highly recommended. There is also information available on our website here: I've been bereaved by suicide - Suicide Prevention Scotland.

The next day brought something different, an opportunity to connect with early and mid career researchers at the 10th Suicide and Self-Harm EMCR Forum hosted by the brilliant team at the Suicide Behaviour Research Laboratory at University of Glasgow. Around 100 researchers from across the world were there and I had an opportunity to join the workshop sessions where they had a chance to talk about their research and emerging findings. There were a wide range of topics from work on preventing suicide in settings such as emergency departments to suicide prevention and its association with different long term conditions such as stroke, parkinson’s disease and cancer. There was also an interesting presentation on an undergraduate study of the impact of being an early or mid career researcher working on suicide which resonated with me and some of the work members of our Suicide Prevention Scotland team have been involved in which includes the You First podcast series You First - Suicide Prevention Scotland. The work we all do is rewarding but also emotionally draining at times. Many people I come into contact with who work in this field have also been impacted by suicide, it seems many researchers have similar experiences. It is so important to have a reminder that we need to also look after ourselves while we are trying to prevent suicide.

I remember many years ago, Professor Steve Platt speaking at a conference where he was highlighting the need for more researchers to be working in suicide prevention, I left this event feeling confident in the next generation of researchers and their passion and commitment to make a difference and I’m keen to see how we can bring much more of this academic evidence into our work on implementing our national suicide prevention strategy.

My week was topped off with some of my voluntary role as Chair of the YouthBorders Board of Trustees. YouthBorders supports a group of young people in the LEAD (Learn, Educate, Advocate, Develop) Group. The group comprises young people from 11- 23 years of age from across the Borders. They came together to design, develop and deliver the LEAD awards programme which saw young people and the adults who support them recognised for their efforts across a number of categories including green, creativity, leadership, kindness and community inspiration. There was music from local youth musicians which along with a Hawaiian theme, transformed the Langlee Community Centre into a joyous, vibrant, colourful setting to celebrate the best of community based youth work and the young people it supports. It was also great to welcome Youth Scotland’s new CEO Sarah Robertson who was starting her new role the following day. In a world where we hear so much negativity and horribleness, the LEAD group which has been built on acceptance, peer support and encouragement showed us all that we are in good hands with the next generation, they also gave me a good excuse to finally buy a Hawaiian shirt which I will wear with pride!