Following the very sad news of the discovery of a body at East Cowes Kingston Cemetery back in September – a community group called The Friends of East Cowes made contact with SPI asking for some help to prevent any further loss of life to people in the local area.
Ken Wheeler, Chair of The Friends of East Cowes, contacted us asking for advice regarding signs that could be placed on benches and other areas within the cemetery that would prompt a “call to action” for people to reach out for help if they, or someone they know, are feeling suicidal.
Sarah Adams of Suicide Prevention & Intervention IOW says:
The news of this very sad situation had made its way to us at the time of Ken contacting us, and we agreed at once to support The Friends of East Cowes and the local community, to do what we can to ensure that help can get to people of the Island when they reach out.
With this is mind we set out to have some signs designed with “call to action” contact details on them that will prompt a response from our front line teams when people are in their darkest hour.
With the very limited funds available to SPI we set out to look for a Community Partner who would be kind enough to sponsor the cost of the signs – this is where East Cowes Business Association very kindly offered to step in and take on the cost.
The signs have now been installed in the Cemetery and we hope that for anyone who is having thoughts, or knows someone who is having thoughts, of suicide to reach out and use the information on the signs.
Ken Wheeler says Chair of The Friends of East Cowes:
When I heard of the young man’s death I felt that The Friends of East Cowes could, and should, do something to prevent such a tragic event happening again. Sadly incidents like this happen on the Island too often and we hope by doing this it will save lives. SPI IOW are working hard to help prevent suicide on the Isle of Wight and need support and funding to continue their work.
Simon Craddock, Chairman of ECBA says:
A key part of any community group is to provide support to those who need it and whilst we’re fundamentally business orientated, we were unanimous in our decision to fund this brilliant initiative that could save someone in their darkest and loneliest hour of need, and save the whole community from unnecessary pain. Whilst we hope that they are never needed, we are pleased and proud to be associated with this initiative.’
Would you like to become a Community Partner?
If you would like to become a community Partner with SPI and help our Island become Suicide Safer please email hello@spiiow.org we have a number of projects running at present where we are looking for community partners.
Someone at risk from Suicide?
If you think or believe that someone you know or have seen someone who is at risk from ending their life from suicide you can make contact with our front line team 24 hours a day in the following ways:
SPI Crisis Number (Suicide Intervention Only)
07519008406 24/7 text or call – This number is only to be used if you or someone you know is having thoughts of suicide or we have a live 24 hour web chat on our website www.spiiow.org
Anyone interested in learning or joining SPIIOW can email hello@spiiow.org
