Andy Airey lost his daughter to suicide in 2018 and, ever since, he has been committed to raising funds for the suicide prevention charity, PAPYRUS, and awareness of suicide among young people. You might recognise Andy’s name or face from the 3 Dads Walking initiative – and he will be opening our Supporting Each Other Through Loss event in Barrow on Saturday 15 October 2022.
Read MoreSupporting Each Other Through Loss will be an opportunity to find out how to support those you know affected by suicide bereavement, and where and how to ask for support if you have lost someone to suicide yourself. This could be you whether it’s a colleague, neighbour, friend or family member, and has happened recently or in the past. Full details here and you can book free tickets via this link Suicide Bereavement Support for Cumbria - Supporting each other through loss - The Forum Barrow
Read MoreIn Autumn 2021, for the first time, SBS Cumbria entered into a collaboration with Cumbria Constabulary and its new recruit training programme. Police and emergency services have a crucial role to perform when dealing with families bereaved by suicide and we were invited to help in training Police cadets to improve their understanding and skills for one of their toughest roles.
Read MoreSuicide bereavement in the UK: Descriptive findings from a national survey is an important piece of research that has recently been published, based on surveys carried out between July 2017 and August 2018. Here our Chairman, John Brown discusses the key findings.
Read MoreToday, our lifebelt logo is used across our website, social media, publications, reports, advertising and lots of other applications – we hope that it tells a story of what we’re about as a self-help organisation and support network across Cumbria and the surrounding area for those bereaved by suicide.
Read MoreEmily, who lost her partner to suicide, and who now facilitates our Barrow area peer support group, has been working with Lancashire and South Cumbria NHS Foundation Trust to tell her story. Emily wanted to share her story to help those working in the Trust, and others, have insight into the trauma and wide-ranging consequences of bereavement by suicide, through her personal perspective.
Read MoreMaria Carruthers from Wigton climbed Skiddaw at Easter with a few special friends and family, in memory of her brother, Jason, who died last year.
“Hillwalking was one of Jason’s hobbies,” explains Maria, “so this seemed a fitting thing to do. We lost my beautiful brother to suicide in April 2021 and I’ve set myself the challenge of raising £1000 to support Suicide Bereavement Support (SBS) Cumbria.”
Read MoreThe decision to share personal trauma such as bereavement by suicide in the public sphere, whether in the media, as part of a creative project or just to a wider circle of acquaintances in your personal life, is not an easy one. The following practical guidelines are based on a talk given at the 10th Suicide Bereavement UK Conference held in Manchester on 23rd September 2021 by Jon Salmon, campaigner and director of Speakers Collective.
Read MoreThey thought the hail, wind and rain was bad, but it wasn’t until a team of 12 friends and colleagues found themselves running in heatwave conditions that the going got really tough. The team included key workers and emergency response staff came together to raise awareness about suicide in Cumbria by each running a minimum of 2km every day for 100 days from April to July.
Read MoreThe COVID-19 crisis has prompted us all to think a bit more about death and what it means for us and our loved ones. It has also provided an unparalleled opportunity to place the importance of talking about dying, death and bereavement firmly on the national agenda.
Following on from their highly acclaimed film ‘A Love that Never Dies’, The Good Grief Project charity is proud to present their new film ‘Beyond the Mask’, a thought-provoking documentary that examines the lived experience of grief during the pandemic.
Produced by acclaimed filmmakers, Jimmy Edmonds and Jane Harris and made entirely during the pandemic, BEYOND THE MASK Stroud premiere will be screened both live and online for he 2021 Stroud Film Festival.
Director, Jane Harris says 'Grief in these times has thrown up new challenges for us,” and ‘Beyond The Mask’ invites us to “re-evaluate what is important in our lives.'
She continues, 'So many people feel unheard and isolated and need to be free to speak about their experiences and we want to help share them.'
It is estimated that 2.5 million lives have been lost to the pandemic worldwide. For each life lost, between 5 and 9 others are affected in a significant way. This means there are potentially 22 million bereaved individuals who have been catapulted into grief at the hand of the Coronavirus, many of whom will suffer poor mental health having been robbed of opportunities to properly say goodbye to their loved ones. And, there are echoes of Harris and Edmonds’ personal trauma – their son Josh died suddenly, a long way from home – they too never got to say goodbye.
Jane Harris is also a psychotherapist and invites intimate reflections from the participants despite the fact that all her conversations are conducted remotely.
Featuring Palliative Care Consultant turned author and campaigner, Dr Kathryn Mannix expresses her fears about life after Covid:
'One of the things everyone is worried about is what is the bereavement epidemic going to look like after this’.
The film also looks at the toll lockdown is having on people with life-limiting illnesses and features disability campaigner Lucy Watts MBE (27) who is terrified she will be refused treatment should she be admitted to hospital. Watts comments:
'Covid has brought out the worst in all of this – we are making judgements based on resources and on who’s the fittest. I very much worry that there will be a judgement my life is not worth living'
Beyond The Mask explores many aspects that both grief and the pandemic share – isolation, mask wearing, the sense of time stopping, the loss of confidence, the challenge to one’s sense of self, the damage to mental health and of course the various ways we are having to adjust to our “new normal”.
A team of 12 friends and colleagues including key workers and emergency response staff have come together to raise awareness about suicide in Cumbria by each running 2km every day for 100 days. Many of them are not runners and almost everyone on the team has been affected by suicide personally or through their work. They have already run more than 800 miles (Land’s End to John O’Groats is a mere 603 miles as the crow flies) and raised over £1,200 for local charity, Suicide Bereavement Support.
Read MoreThe National Confidential Inquiry into Suicide and Safety in Mental Health (NCISH) is a nationwide study collecting data on suicides and mental health in the UK since 1996. Here’s a summary of the initiative’s most recent findings on suicide in middle aged men, who represent the most at-risk demographic for suicide.
If you have lost a loved one to suicide and live in Cumbria or the surrounding areas, you aren’t alone. Reach out to SBS via the contact us page for a confidential chat with one of our facilitators.
Having waited for more than five months to complete his 10km charity run, Shaun Mayall (10) has finally undertaken the challenge and raised over £5,000 for Suicide Bereavement Support (SBS). The schoolboy from Cockermouth sadly lost his dad, Andy, to suicide in 2014 and decided to honour his memory by challenging himself to run 10km in December. Lockdown, however, put paid to his plans and the youngster was forced to delay.
Read MoreHaving set out to raise £101, Shaun Mayall (10) has now blown the doors off and raised almost £5,000. The schoolboy from Cockermouth sadly lost his dad, Andy, to suicide in 2014 and decided to honour his memory by challenging himself to run 10K, which will now take place on Friday 23 April.
Read MoreShaun Mayall (10) from Cockermouth (Cumbria) has been recognised by the Prime Minster, who has honoured him with the Points of Light award. The schoolboy from Cockermouth sadly lost his dad, Andy, to suicide in 2014 and decided to honour his memory by challenging himself to run 10K. Andy’s birthday would have been on 20 February, making the Prime Minister’s recognition this week even more poignant.
Read MoreOur South Cumbria Support Group is expanding! Alongside our now-weekly Zoom meetings, our South Cumbria group is launching its own online support meetings, socials and more.
Read MoreHaving set out to raise £101, Shaun Mayall (10) has now blown the doors off and raised more than £3,000. The schoolboy from Cockermouth sadly lost his dad, Andy, to suicide in 2014 and decided to honour his memory by challenging himself to run 10K on Thursday 10 December.
Read MoreShaun Mayall (10) from Cockermouth sadly lost his dad, Andy, to suicide in 2014. One day when Shaun was dwelling on how much he missed his dad at school recently, his teacher, Mrs Winter at Fairfield Primary, asked him if he’d thought about doing something to celebrate the memory of his dad. Shaun was inspired and spent the October half-term brainstorming ideas, eventually settling on a plan to run 10K.
Read MoreA determined group of 20 staff from Cumbria County Council have completed a combined distance of 2,535 miles during September and October, resulting in a global second place in the IASP Cycle Around the Globe challenge.
Read More‘Help is out there’. That is the message of local charities on World Mental Health Day today, as people continue to battle with the uncertainty caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
Read More
Registered office: Suicide Bereavement Support, c/o Woodrow Services (Cumbria) Limited, Woodrow Hall, Woodrow, Wigton, Cumbria CA7 0AT
Privacy Policy | Website Terms
