A new organisation focused on prevention, intervention and education surrounding suicide on the Isle of Wight has been established.
Suicide Prevention & Intervention IOW (SPIIOW) aim to save lives through not only raising awareness of suicide, but by delivering training and education as well as actively intervening in a crisis.
Many readers may not know that suicide is the leading cause of deaths among young people across the UK. SPIIOW strongly believe that many young suicides can be prevented if we make it our business to get involved and make the Island a ‘suicide safer’ community.
SPIIOW are establishing an on-call, frontline team known as ‘Crisis Intervention Search & Rescue’. The team intend to be on-call 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to be sent to any location across the Isle of Wight to help a person who is at risk in their time of need. The team are independent but are working towards forming a working partnership with local agencies going forward.
Sarah Adams of Suicide Prevention & Intervention IOW says:
“We know that there is a lot of stigma and taboo attached to suicide, hence it being one of the main reasons why people of all ages don’t talk about it – they feel they don’t want to be judged. This seems wrong to us so our aim is to break this down and for people to talk openly about the way they are feeling.
“We are proactive in delivering suicide awareness training across the Island. This is done through our hosted sessions, or we can come to your work place to deliver sessions to your staff to help you play your part in making your work place and the Island ‘suicide safer’.”
A suicide prevention training course entitled ‘SafeTALK – Suicide Alertness for Everyone’ is being held in Shanklin on Monday 14th January 2019. safeTALK is a half-day alertness training that prepares anyone 15 or older, regardless of prior experience or training, to become a suicide-alert helper.
Most people with thoughts of suicide don’t truly want to die, but are struggling with the pain in their lives. Through their words and actions, they invite help to stay alive. safeTALK-trained helpers can recognize these invitations and take action by connecting them with life-saving intervention resources.
Since its development in 2006, safeTALK has been used in over 20 countries around the world, and more than 200 selectable video vignettes have been produced to tailor the programme’s audio-visual component for diverse audiences.
For more information and to book your place visit https://spiiow.org/safetalk-monday-14th-january-2019/.
The organisation are aiming to obtain charity status in early 2019 but are already fundraising to help buy essential equipment for the crisis intervention team. In addition, they are also seeking volunteers to undertake a number of roles. Could you volunteer your time? Email [email protected].
