North Yorkshire man organises tour to promote a Zero Suicide society
The Join the Dots tour arrives in York today to raise awareness of suicide numbers
A summit is taking place in York aiming to reduce the number of lives lost to suicide each year.
The Join The Dots tour, organised by The Jordan Legacy Project, is travelling across the UK.
It was set up by Steve Phillip from Harrogate whose son Jordan took his own life when he was 34 years old.
Today a panel event is taking place at City Screen in York. The event will highlights groups of people with higher-than-average suicide rates who are often hidden from view, excluded in a number of ways, including often not featuring in suicide prevention strategies & plans. That includes older people, hidden carers (inc young carers), and York’s biggest ‘ethnic minority group’ – Gypsy & Traveller communities.
Senior leaders from key York organisations will provide insights into all the relevant issues and shine a light on York’s multi-agency approach to tackling challenges such as financial disadvantage and digital exclusion.
Tour designed to open up the suicide conversation
Speaking to the Mental Health Monday Podcast, Jordan Legacy founder Steve Phillip, who is from Harrogate, said: "Suicide can affect anyone, but the upside of that is that anyone can prevent suicide.
"So what we want to do is to say we need a suicide-educated and activated public. This is something for everyone to get educated about.
"We need better knowledge, I know that as a parent who was badly educated. Had I had the knowledge I have now, I would have had very different conversations with my son, and we might not be having this conversation today."
As well as organising the Join The Dots tour, Steve has worked with mental health experts and organisations to produce the Zero Suicide Society guide to look at practical ways to reduce the numbers of deaths to suicide in the UK.
Thousands of lives lost to suicide each year
On average, someone dies every 90 minutes by suicide somewhere in the country.
Steve hopes the conversations he has over the course of the tour will help promote ways to bring those numbers down rapidly.
He told us: "If you ask any school, any family, any workplace how many suicides are acceptable in your location, without question each one would say nothing is acceptable in terms of a suicide death."
Find out more about the Join the Dots tour
Listen to Steve Phillip's conversation on the Mental Health Monday Podcast in full
There are signposting services at the end of the podcast.
Find mental health services where you are, and links to helpful helplines at the Hub of Hope