Students walks 297 miles for every life lost to suicide in NI

A Co Down student has presented a cheque to a number of MLAs at Stormont, to raise money for a mental health charity

Katie Graden, 17, is an A Level student at Glenlola Collegiate in Bangor.

She walked 297 miles across summer - representing a mile for every life that has been lost to suicide in Northern Ireland.

The latest statistics show that five people are dying through suicide every week in Northern Ireland.

It is also one of the main reasons that life expectancy is lower in Northern Ireland than in the Republic of Ireland or England

The 17 year old wants to raise awareness of the disease - after she had a mental breakdown in year 8.

"I'd always been a worrier - but I stop eating, I stopped drinking, I even stopped talking.

"There just wasn't much help out there for me when I needed it most - and I don't want any other young person to go through that."

Katie thinks our Government have a long way to go when it comes to tackling the mental health problem here.

"Quiet frankly I don't think there is enough services here. We are starting to talk about the issue more but that's not good enough if there isn't support and service for people out there who build up the courage to come forward and speak about their issues."

Katie handed over £1051.22 to Action Mental Health, and that money will go towards workers from the charity going into schools and teaching young people about the issue.

England has 12% of its health budget ring-fenced for mental health. In Northern Ireland it's only 6%.

The charities Chief Executive David Babbington told us more about what the scheme involves:

"The funding will go towards our schools programme, that involves pupils aged 8-11 and secondary pupils. Our staff go in and talk to teachers, the children and the parents about how to deal with the ups and downs that life brings and give them coping strategies."

"The programme links into all the issues around suicide, but it also stops people having issues which will last them a lifetime - and potentially see them end up in hospital. By doing this preventative work, we are actually saving the whole health sector all those issues in the future."

David also warned that the lack of an Executive here is having a serious impact on mental health issues - saying rising levels of suicide and a lack of an executive is a 'toxic cocktail'.

"It's unacceptable in this day and age that we have suicide rates that are going up and in the rest of the UK they are going down - and yet we have nobody in power to make any decisions. It really is a dreadful situation, but we will keep pushing regardless of the fact we don;t have politicians in power to make sure that something is done eventually."

The fundraising initiative is an extension of Katie’s proposal for a mental health pupil leadership team for every school in Northern Ireland.

Katie said: “My proposal is for a student mental health and well-being council in every school, where pupils are elected through an application and interview process. This team would hold regular meetings with the teacher-led pastoral care team to discuss recent issues, review processes and identify more effective solutions from a student perspective.

“The team should be trained in confidentiality to allow students to speak freely and any issues would only be passed on if necessary. Students should be shown how to deal with panic attacks, self-harm and students experiencing suicidal thoughts in particular, just like students are trained in first aid.

“I have delivered my proposal to the Department of Education and the All Party Group on Mental Health. We are currently waiting for the results from an international research report carried out by Stormont’s research team and today, I am pleased so many politicians from so many parties were here to support me.

“I am hopeful of securing a one year pilot scheme and I have already had interest from Glenlola Collegiate, Lagan College and The School of Engineering at Queens University. If any other schools are interested, please contact me via email, katie.graden@yahoo.co.uk."

And if would like more information about Action Mental Health or need help, please click here, or phone 028 9182 8494.