BBC 6 O Clock News Features Our Work: On Call With Charity Suicide Crisis

The BBC 6 o clock news featured the work of our charity on 29th November. A news crew filmed us as we went out to visit clients in their homes. As well as providing a Suicide Crisis Centre where clients come to see us, we also need to provide home visits, particularly when clients are at imminent risk of suicide.

The BBC news item focused on “Sarah”, and shows some of the many reasons why our service is needed. Our local crisis team is “closed” when we phone them on Sarah’s behalf. The A&E department at the general hospital says it is not an appropriate place for her. There are also no psychiatric beds available. The link to the online video on the BBC website is below:-

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-38152562

Joy Gives Evidence At Select Committee In Parliament

Joy was invited to give oral evidence to the Parliamentary Health Select Committee on the 8th November. They are undertaking an inquiry into the action needed to help prevent suicide. Joy was asked to speak to the Select Committee about our Suicide Crisis Centre and how it works.

The video of the Select Committee session is below and Joy’s evidence starts at around 15.26

http://www.parliament.uk/business/committees/committees-a-z/commons-select/health-committee/news-parliament-20151/suicide-prevention-evidence2-16-17/

BBC TV Visits Us For Breakfast News Piece

The BBC’s social affairs editor, Michael Buchanan, came to interview Joy for a BBC breakfast TV news piece about the number of patients dying by suicide under the NHS crisis teams nationally. Joy spoke about her experiences under the crisis team in 2012 and explained that it was one of the reasons why she set up our service,to provide something very different. She was also interviewed about our Suicide Crisis Centre. The link to the news piece on the BBC website is below:-

http://http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-37563259

Our Presentation To The National Suicide Prevention Advisory Group

The Government’s adviser on suicide, Louis Appleby, approached us a few weeks ago to ask us to give a presentation about our work to the National Suicide Prevention Strategy Advisory Group, which he chairs. We did so on Tuesday. We explained about our ethos and approach, the way our services run, how we have achieved zero suicide at our Crisis Centre, and why a high proportion of our clients are men.

Sky News Focuses On Our Suicide Crisis Centre

Huge thanks to Sky News for featuring our Suicide Crisis Centre in news bulletins throughout the day on World Suicide Prevention Day.

Our thanks in particular to Adele who interviewed Joy and one of our male clients in such a sensitive way, and to Mostyn who filmed the piece in a way that ensured that our client’s identity was not revealed.

“There is a gaping hole in crisis care provision……We need Suicide Crisis Centres across the country.”

Calls For More Crisis Centres As Suicide Rates Soar

http://news.sky.com/story/call-for-more-crisis-centres-as-suicide-rates-soar-10571855

Our Suicide Crisis Centre in The Independent and “i” newspapers

Our thanks to The Independent and the “i” newspapers for their articles about our Suicide Crisis Centre last week which explain some of the ways in which we differ from other organisations and why those differences have helped ensure that our clients survive.
The link to The Independent article is below and we’ve included a scan of the “i” newspaper piece:-

http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/after-a-bad-experience-with-mental-health-services-i-set-up-my-own-suicide-crisis-centre-and-i-a7159721.html
joy for the i cropped

Please Don’t Call Us ‘Difficult To Engage’

Joy has written a piece for the Huffington Post about people who psychiatric services sometimes describe as “difficult to engage”. She explains that we need to understand why people aren’t engaging. Services have a responsibility to help people to connect with them and there are implications for a person’s suicide risk if they don’t. The link to the Huffington Post piece is below:-

http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/../../joy-hibbins/please-dont-call-us-diffi_b_10988746.html

Daily Express article about our Suicide Crisis Centre

Thank you very much indeed to Martin Barrow and the Daily Express for this article about our work. It is really helpful in explaining how we work, and it reflects very well our ethos. Martin includes in his article a particular case where a client was at imminent risk and he explains how we helped in that situation. The article refers to our zero suicide achievement and the number of men who access our services.

The link to the article is here:-

http://www.express.co.uk/life-style/health/675334/Joy-Hibbins-charity-lifeline-suicide

“Suicide Crisis, I owe you my life”

Thank you so much to Gloucester’s main newspaper, the Gloucester Citizen, for their two-page feature about one of our clients: “Suicide Crisis saved my life”. This was to mark our third anniversary of providing services. We are extremely grateful to our client for doing this interview and for speaking so openly about the circumstances which led to his contacting us. On the morning of our third anniversary he also sent us a very poignant email:-
“Suicide Crisis, I owe you my life. You never let go of my hand and are only an arm’s length away to re-hold it whenever I need you.”
Our thanks also to the newspaper for Cheltenham, the Gloucestershire Echo, for their two-page feature on Tuesday.
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Luciana Al Echo article