Charity's suicide awareness call

Jan 28 2008 by Our Correspondent, Western Mail

A LEADING mental health charity has today called on all schools in Wales to train at least one staff member in suicide awareness.

The call by Mind Cymru comes amid continuing concern over a cluster of suicides in Bridgend, which has claimed 13 young lives over the past year.

Alan Briscoe, who wants a nurse or teacher from each school in Wales to take part in the charity’s training to recognise and help suicidal pupils, said, “For the community of Bridgend each suicide increases a sense of despair.

“Young people who are troubled often find it difficult to ask for help, and if they know other young people who are dying by suicide it can increase the risk that they too will see suicide as a way out.

“We need to make it easier for young people to find help, and make them more likely to be heard when they seek it.”

He added, “More needs to be done for professionals to recognise the signs of suicidal thoughts and have the confidence to intervene, particularly with vulnerable adolescents.

“This training helps them feel more supported and able to cope and increases safety for all.

“If every school in Wales trained just one teacher or school nurse in suicide awareness, that would be a huge step forward.”

Teaching leaders last night welcomed the suggestion – as long as it was properly resourced.

Anna Brychan, director of the National Association of Head Teachers Cymru, said, “What has happened in the Bridgend area is desperately sad and if there is evidence to support this can help, we should consider it.

“However, it needs to be sustainable. We cannot introduce these schemes without identifying clear resources on top of those already there.”

Geraint Davies of the National Association of Welsh Teachers said, “We have advocated the return of the school nurse for a long time, and not just in respect of this issue.

“Today’s youngsters face so many problems – both inside and outside school – and such a person can have an invaluable role to play.”

The move comes the day after best friends Leigh Jenkins, 22, and Alan Price, 21, became the latest of the 13 hanging victims to be named in the media.

On Friday, police announced they were re-examining the cases looking for possible links between the deaths.

Mr Jenkins’s mother, Beverley, revealed how her son spent his last hours on the internet – killing himself just a short time after coming off the computer.

The 43-year-old said her son’s suicide strikingly resembles those of 12 other youngsters found dead.

She said her son was “devastated” when his lifelong friend was found hanged in his parents’ garage, but she thought he was getting through it.

Then just 58 days later Leigh was found hanged in the bedroom of a friend who last saw him alive surfing the internet.

She said, “When Leigh’s best friend killed himself we were worried for a long time that he might do the same thing.

“Leigh was devastated but he seemed to be getting better.”

She remains baffled why her son was on the internet in a friend’s house just a few hours before he killed himself. She has no idea if he was using social networking sites which have been linked to the other suicides.

“I would never have imagined the internet had anything to do with Leigh’s death – which is why I was so shocked when I found out he was using the internet the night he died.

“It’s possible he was looking at something totally irrelevant but it’s a question that hangs over me – what was he looking at?”

The mother of two said her son knew another young man Luke Goodridge, 22, who was found hanged in his bedroom.

She added, “There seems to have been a cluster of young boys killing themselves who live in a very close proximity to each other.

“There’s got to be a reason behind it. There’s got to be something that can be done to help these boys.

“I just can’t understand what could be so bad that they decide to make that choice.”

In addition to Leigh Jenkins and Alan Price, the others who have died by hanging were Dale Crole, 18, David Dilling, 19, Thomas Davies, 20, Zachery Barnes, 17, Liam Clarke, 20, Gareth Morgan, 27, Natasha Randall, 17, James Knight, 26, Jason Williams, 21, Andrew O’Neill, 19, and Luke Goodridge, 20