Young people and protecting them from suicide was the theme of the latest meeting of the West Yorkshire Suicide Prevention Advisory Network (SPAN) which saw nearly 100 people join to listen to guest speakers. 
The September meeting of the quarterly, online, drop-in learning forum heard from some of those involved in suicide prevention work with young people in West Yorkshire.
The meeting featured a screening of the film ‘Young In Covid 2 – Routes To Recovery’ – the sequel to the award-winning film ‘Young In Covid – The Silent Pandemic’ - which highlights how young people in Bradford have been affected by the Covid pandemic.
Some of those involved in the production of the film talked at the meeting, including Dr Sofia Buncy, national co-ordinator at Bradford’s Khidmat Centres, who said Routes to Recovery aimed to build on the first film, documenting the stories and experiences of young people and how the pandemic affected their mental health.
She said: “The first film flagged up some dynamics that, I guess as a centre we couldn’t have pre-empted.
“Yes there was a feeling young people were ignored and they were being blamed for the spread of Covid. But we also found that young people were disproportionately struggling with their mental health.
“Some of that was driven by the thought that they felt they were missing out on key life opportunities, whether that was exams, going to their prom, maturation and becoming an adult.
“And others just felt that there was a lack of tailored support for them during this period – they felt they couldn’t reach out to strangers in order to access help and support.
“And there was a lot of social stigma as well attached, around conversations around mental health and suicide prevention.”
Hasnain Shafiq, who was one of the young people involved in the project, also spoke at the SPAN meeting.
He shared how losing friends to suicide and his involvement in the film have now led to him supporting schools and young people as a mental health ambassador.
In the meeting's second talk, James Parkes, of the charity PAPYRUS – Preventing Young Suicide, spoke to members in his role as area manager for the north of England, about the charity’s work nationally and in West Yorkshire.
Highlighting the “staggering” statistics around suicide deaths in young people – with 1,920 deaths of under 35s registered as suicide in 2021, of which around 200 were teenagers – James explained the charity's key aims, to support, equip and influence others in its work to protect primarily young people under the age of 35, but also all age groups to create suicide-safer communities.
In West Yorkshire, Papyrus has two community support officers who are delivering suicide awareness training – including some funded by the WY HCP Suicide Prevention Programme and Kirklees Council – to people in West Yorkshire.
James stressed the importance of undertaking training and doing all we can to provide the opportunity for people to speak openly about suicide and suicidal ideation.
Emphasising the notion that suicide prevention is “everyone’s business" he said: “We need to all pay our part to engage in meaningful conversations.”
Resources from the meeting:
Young In Covid:
James Parkes, PAPYRUS:
- Webinar of James's talk
- The talk included screenings of two films which - for technical reasons - did not show in the webinar. The links to these are: We Are Paprus and Sinking Feeling.
- HOPELINE247 is there for young people having thoughts of suicide or for anyone concerned for a young person. Contact HOPELINE247 for confidential support and practical advice. Call: 0800 068 4141 Text: 07860 039 967
- PAPYRUS's West Yorkshire suicide prevention training sessions