New CALMzone launched on National Suicide Prevention Day

On 10^th September, National Suicide Prevention Day, Stoke Mandeville Stadium in Buckinghamshire will host a conference launching Thames Valley as the UK’s third dedicated ‘CALMzone’.

The conference will bring together professionals and members of the public to promote the message that suicide prevention is everybody’s business. In 2013, 78 per cent of suicides in the UK were male, which is why SPIN (the Suicide Prevention and Intervention Network), funded by the Thames Valley Strategic Clinical Network, will be working with the Campaign Against Living Miserably (CALM) to prevent male suicide in the Thames Valley area of Oxfordshire, Berkshire and Buckinghamshire.

Thames Valley will be the third CALMzone in the UK, following in the footsteps of Merseyside and London Tri-Borough area. A ‘CALMzone’ is an area of the UK where CALM’s helpline and campaign is actively promoted and callers to the helpline can be signposted to local services.

SPIN project facilitator Matt Williams will be responsible for promoting CALM locally across the area and seeking support from local employers, sports clubs as well as music and comedy venues to reach any man locally who may be down or in crisis.

CALM’s dedicated service is free, confidential, and anonymous. The helpline and webchat provision is staffed by professionals who will offer support, signposting and information to callers every day from 5pm to midnight.

Williams said: “We are really pleased to be able to hold this year’s conference in a sporting arena as this reflects our intention of reaching men locally in a non-medicalised manner. Too many people who end their life by suicide have not sought help via the usual health channels and we need to be more proactive when reaching out and engaging with those who may be at risk.”

Karen Lascelles, suicide prevention lead nurse for Oxford Health NHS FT and conference organiser, said: “Suicide affects so many people each year and the impact of suicide pervades families and communities over generations.

“Suicide is too often seen as only a ‘health’ issue. However, suicide can affect anybody and it is vital – if we’re serious about reducing deaths by suicide – that suicide and suicide prevention are seen as being everybody’s business. We all have a role to play.”