This online seminar aims to raise awareness of suicide, whilst also considering how we can support young people and those around them who have experienced the loss of a loved one. Whilst the focus is on suicide amongst those under 35, all panel members are also aware of the emotional strain that foster carers can experience, and the importance of also promoting our own positive mental health.
Its content may be distressing at times. Please be aware and mindful of this. If you are having thoughts of suicide or are concerned for a young person who might be you can contact the Papyrus HOPELINE247 for confidential support and practical advice (papyrus-uk.org).
Booking details:
This event is free to attend for members of The Fostering Network
Register your place today
(login is required)
Speaker details:
- Falah Noor, PAPYRUS Community Development Officer
- Sinead Gibson, Foster Carer and Campaigner
- Helen West, Practice Development Consultant
Falah Noor, is a community development officer in PAPYRUS. With suicide being recorded as the main cause of death of people under the age of 35 in the UK, research shows that with appropriate early intervention and support, suicide by young people can be prevented.
PAPYRUS Prevention of Young Suicide is a UK charity dedicated to the prevention of suicide and the promotion of positive mental health and emotional wellbeing in young people.
PAPYRUS was founded in 1997 by a group of bereaved parents, who had each lost children to suicide. Their founding parents share core beliefs that suicide is preventable, and that those with lived experience have a valuable and unique contribution to make to the wider conversation around suicide.
- Between the ages 15-24 in the UK, male suicides were three times more common than female suicides
- (ONS (Office for National Statistics) total of 532 total male suicides, compared to 182 total female suicides in 2018).
- Since 2013, suicide rates have also risen among younger males aged 10-14, and among females across all ages.
- (The Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, ‘State of child health report,’ 2020)
Sinead Gibson is foster carer whose own daughter tragically took her own life in 2020. She is a campaigner for social rights and has been a foster carer for over 15 years. Sinead lost her daughter in lockdown and has since gone on to develop the annual Every Little Thing festival in memory of her daughter to bring the community together to help those experiencing mental health difficulties find hope and connections and to ensure that she is never forgotten. Sinead is passionate about inclusivity and equality.
Sinead has been campaigning to raise awareness and support of suicide prevention, the importance of ‘every little thing’ in the lives of those living with suicidal thoughts.
Helen West is a practice development consultant here at The Fostering Network with a wealth of experience in grief counselling and support who will help us to think about how we can support those who have experienced the unthinkable loss of a loved one through suicide. In any circumstances of bereavement, it can be difficult to know how best to support the bereaved, but death by suicide creates a further layer of emotional complexities as the bereaved often struggle with anger, guilt, and blame as well as loss. Those around the bereaved can feel afraid to raise the loss and inadvertently cause the bereaved to feel isolated and unable to reach for support.
