EXCLUSIVE: Be more open about suicide, charity urges Bristol
We've gone out patrolling known hotspots with the charity Suicide Prevention Bristol
We must learn to talk openly about suicide, a Bristol charity has urged.
To mark World Suicide Prevention Day (September 10) our Senior Reporter James Diamond went out on patrol with Suicide Prevention Bristol (SPB) to learn about their work.
This is the story of the night.
An eventful beginning
I arrive at SPB's offices at 8:45pm as arranged and I'm immediately told that Avril, who I'm due to be meeting, is not here.
She's not late as such; in fact she had already been here for several hours.
What's happened is shortly before I arrived, a woman in distress called SPB's national helpline saying she was at a known hotspot and wanted to take her own life.
As such, Avril and several others had jumped in one of SPB's patrol cars and rushed to the scene. When they get back I'm told they managed to convince the woman to go to hospital.
With everyone now at the office, we are split into four teams, each of three or four volunteers, plus me.
Every team consists of at least one man and one woman as I'm told often when a person is in serious distress, they won't want to talk to someone of the opposite sex.
We're each given a vest with Suicide Prevention Bristol written on the back, a radio and a torch and then we all head off across Bristol hoping to help anyone in need.
The patrol begins
We're due to be on shift from 9pm until 3am and for the first few hours is it quiet.
Another volunteer Steve, who is driving, takes us from hotspot to hotspot and each time we get out, search around for anyone who might need our help and then head off to the next location.
Twice I am taken to sites where the signs that someone has taken their life are still there and it is sobering.; as if time in that one place has stopped while life continues around it.
The images of those scenes will stick in my head forever.
Whilst we're walking, I ask Avril how many incidents they tend to deal with on a shift and she says it varies from time to time, but the overall figures she gives me are shocking.
"The statistics as a whole is that, call wise we come across up to 200 calls a day (nationally), but out and about on patrol we come across about 600 people a year," she says.
"So quite a lot."
"Quite a lot" seems like an understatement. That works out as a little under two incidents every day.
Nearly two incidents a day where someone has travelled to a location actively seeking to end their life and with the 600 figure, we're only talking about Bristol.
I ask what time of day most incidents occur, wondering aloud that most suicidal decisions are probably spontaneous and sparked by a sudden event.
I'm told that they come across the most people in the early hours of the morning when people have had time alone with their thoughts.
The evenings they say, are usually quiet.
A sprint to the car
Fast forward to 1:30am and a call comes over the radio that a woman is in distress at a nearby hotspot and we're needed at the scene.
At the time we're patrolling somewhere else so immediately the team start running to the car. When a life is on the line there is no time to waste.
In the time we've been parked several other drivers have blocked our car so Avril and another volunteer Grant quickly ask them to move while Steve gets the engine running.
All drivers oblige immediately and we're off in seconds. It's all part of a pattern I notice that everyone wants to do whatever they can for us.
As we walk around, many people thank the team for their work. One man even hands over some cash as a donation.
Despite the urgency, in the time it takes us to get to the scene we're told to stand down.
The woman, who by now it has transpired is known to the team, has said she does not want to engage with us. We leave the incident to the police and fire service and shortly afterwards we hear the woman is safe.
Suicide phrasing
As the night wears on I notice another pattern.
When referring to someone taking their own life Steve always says that they have "completed suicide" and not that they have "committed suicide" as you probably hear more often. I ask him why.
"You're not committing a crime," he says.
"You're not committing yourself to death, you're not committing yourself to anything, you've completed suicide.
"It's a social stigma that's around that people say committed suicide but it's not a crime.
"If you're upset or if you're in trouble or if you're not coping then it's not your fault, there's always a reason behind it.
"It's just finding that reason behind it and then talking to someone about it."
Our patrol ends
As the clock ticks past 2:30am a decision is made to head back to the office.
With the night coming to an end I ask Avril to sum up how significant an issue suicide is in Bristol and what we can do about it.
"It's massive," she replies.
"In the South West our rates are above the average for suicide so it is really important for everyone who hasn't experienced anything with mental health or doesn't know anyone just to keep an open mind with it.
"Just be willing to help others and understand a bit more."
I ask her, if she could get one message above all others across to the people of Bristol, what that would be?
"I think it is just educating yourself around the stigma and just being able to openly talk about it to people and not bottle up feelings and not be afraid to talk about the subject.
"If people haven't experienced anything around mental health it's good to read up on the topics and get yourself educated on what to say to people."
If you have been affected by this story you can find advice and support on Suicide Prevention Bristol's website here.
You can also call their helpline on 0800 689 5652.