Last month our continuous learning focused on suicide awareness training, courtesy of the Mayor of London Sadiq Khan’s Suicide Prevention Strategy.

The training was delivered by the excellent Zero Suicide Alliance via a workshop. This was supported by Thrive London and the Greater London Authority.

It was interesting to find that the training was slanted towards one of the major triggers for those that might be thinking about taking their own lives: gambling. This was deliberately timed to take in the World Cup, now heading into semi and final matches.

Gambling takes many forms of course, and was discussed within the wider topic of addiction too. Suicide is complex though, and rarely happens because of a single reason.

The aim of the training, which we highly recommend, is to share skills and build confidence in order to have a potentially life-saving conversation with someone that you’re worried about. It might equally be with someone that you randomly come across in the street, like those wonderful stories that we read about in the news – compassion, human contact, community spirit, the kindness of strangers all play their part.

Talking saves lives. Reach out if you’re feeling vulnerable, low or need a chat about someone else. Mind and a handful of other mental health organisations are listed on our Charities & Support page. If it’s an emergency situation, there’s a very helpful list on Zero Suicide Alliance’s dedicated page including fast dial phone numbers.

We were delighted to receive a certificate at the end of the course, confirming our participation in the workshop.

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