*Trigger warning: references to suicide
Club Welfare Officer Kate Parkinson organised a talk by Julia, Senior Coastguard Operations Officer, at the Downs Leisure Centre in response to a situation one of our groups faced while on their Wednesday Night Runs.
A packed room of Striders turned out to hear her presentation on Engaging with Individuals Threatening Self-harm and Suicide. Julia has also kindly provided her slides as a resource for sharing with Striders who were unable to attend, these are available by clicking here.
Kate said: “Every aspect discussed was covered with sensitivity. Julia’s presentation was full of common sense and prompted much conversation. Here are some of the crucial points from the presentation:
- if we find ourselves trying to assist someone, we should nominate just one person (one voice) to speak. The reasoning behind this was that the person in need may have other thoughts going on in their head already.
- dial 999 or 112 (which connects to emergency services in the same way) and ask for the Coastguard. The Coastguard is an emergency service and has volunteers all along the coast who can generally reach any location within 30 minutes and are on-call and trained specifically for this purpose.
- if you call 999, it is helpful to give the WhatThreeWords location, if possible.
- be natural, be yourself, stay kind and honest.”
Kate added: “This has been an opportunity to appreciate not just the Maritime and Coastguard Agency, but also the Royal National Lifeboat Institution, the Samaritans and the Beachy Head Chaplaincy, all of whom contribute towards the safety and welfare of people along our coastline.”
*with grateful thanks to Club Welfare Officer Kate Parkinson for organising this talk