Suicide awareness training stepping up

A GROUP of 16 participants took part in a cross-community suicide awareness training event held in the Halfway House Hotel, Ballygally.
By The Newsroom
Published 17th Oct 2011, 13:31 BST

‘Safetalk’ followed on from an earlier training event facilitated in January by the Cairncastle Coastal Clergy Group and was funded by the North Antrim Community Network.

Included in the group were coastal clergy Church of Ireland rector Roger Thompson, Sr. Catherine Kealy, Fr. Aidan Kerr, Rev Anne Tolland and Sr Olcan Watt.

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The course - which is globally recognised and certified - was delivered by Aine Wallace, an experienced trainer with “Dare to Stretch”. It proved to be more than suicide awareness and provided caregivers a four-step model to help identify persons at risk of suicide, support them and link them into support networks.

The event was aimed at those who feel they have some basic suicide awareness knowledge and who understand the need to actively support someone at risk of suicide the help participants. It examined the myths in relation to suicide prevention, identified potential risk groups, how to know the signs and indicators of suicidal thoughts and covered the helping steps of TALK - telling and signs, asking about suicide, listening and keeping safe connections.