A powerful new film featuring the brave testimony of a young woman from Batley who lost her dad to suicide has already been watched by thousands online.
‘The Saddest People Smile the Brightest’ sees Lawrie share her dad’s incredibly sad journey and the impact it has made on herself and her family.
The film was produced by Paul Berry from Men’s Talk Digital, part of Community Links’ CLEAR service, in partnership with Batley charities Luke’s Lads and TCD.
Since Luke’s Lads published the seven-minute video on its Facebook page on May 11th, the video has racked up over 8.3k views so far.
In the moving video, Lawrie talks about growing up with her dad, describing him as “just a big kid”, and seeing him struggle with his mental health before he took his own life.
She said: “Bereavement via suicide is really different because it’s the big why. Because there was no why and there obviously still is no why.”
In the video, Lawrie encourages men to reach out and talk. She said: “Just reach out, reach out to places like Luke’s Lads, like Andy Man Club.
“There are support nets… it’s other people that really relate and therefore you feel comfortable talking about it.
“You know you only need to be able to speak to one person and then it can go from there. And that’s all you have to do - is open up. Obviously it’s easier said than done but that’s the starting point.”
A three-and-a-half minute version of the video has also been published on YouTube.
*In Batley, Luke’s Lads listen and support, every Tuesday at 7.30pm at Jo Cox House.
*More support organisations, across West Yorskhire, can be found here.
*West Yorkshire Suicide Bereavement Service provides support to all who have been affected by suicide - including parents, children, partners, siblings, relatives, friends, work colleagues - no matter when it happened.
*A range of free suicide prevention training is also available to everyone in West Yorkshire - take a look at the many options in our interactive guide.