SPIIOW – the Isle of Wight’s Suicide Prevention and Intervention organisation – is reflecting on the past 12 months since their first suicide intervention.
It was on 20th November 2018 that the team carried out their first suicide intervention. Since then, the use of the service has continued to increase with more than 55 lives saved, which the organisation says shows there is a need for both suicide prevention workshops and interventions across the Island.
Sarah Adams of Suicide Prevention & Intervention IOW says:
“I have been involved with SPIIOW since the start and in the build up to the launch of SPIIOW. The idea came as “a bit of a lightbulb moment” looking at services across the Island and the need to prevent suicides in our community with the rates being too high – in our view one death by suicide is too many.
“Our aim from day one is still the same as it is now and that is we seek to save lives from suicide across the Isle of Wight this done by using proven prevention training and / or using proven suicide (crisis) intervention to reach out, offering hope to anyone who is suicidal be that coastal or inland.
“Even to date there is a lot of stigma and taboo attached to suicide, our aim is to break this down and for people to talk openly about it and the way they are feeling. We break down the stigma and taboo about suicide in a number of ways, the most powerful way is our prevention & training courses delivered across the Island to many walks of life.
“We take the view that every suicide is preventable and we encourage people to reach out to us if they or they know someone who are at risk of ending their life by suicide”.
To date, SPIIOW has carried out 55 interventions, has trained 60 people in suicide prevention and has spoken to a total of 1,071 people through their 24/7 webchat service.
To continue the work of SPIIOW, the organisation are looking for new team members to help prevent suicide across the Isle of Wight by training, education and intervention. More information about joining the team can be found at http://spiiow.org/join-us/ or email [email protected].
If you believe that someone you know is at risk of ending their life by suicide you can make contact with the SPIIOW by calling 07519008406 (24/7 text or call). This number is only to be used if you or someone you know is having thoughts of suicide. Alternatively, you can use the 24hr live web chat service at www.spiiow.org
If you have seen or know someone is trying to end their life then call 999 and ask for Police.
