Suicide Awareness Prevention Training Event

On Friday 26^th October, the Young Carer support group, Labelled, put on it’s first major event. It was a Suicide Awareness Prevention Training Event. We would like to thank Carers Action for supporting the venture, Suicide Awareness for presenting and facilitating it and Leicester Police for generously providing both the venue and the refreshments for the day.

Suicide is a very serious and emotive subject, and on the face of it there is not much space for levity or optimism, but this event is far from downbeat .

We were thrilled to be able to welcome contingents from the Samaritans, Leicestershire Police and the Mental Health Service as well as representatives of the third sector support services, service users and carers.

The event fell into two parts, separated by lunch and a chance to network and meet like-minded individuals involved in either providing or receiving support for mental illnesses.

The first session concentrated mainly on the types of groups and individuals whose lives and circumstances make them high risk for suicide, as well as a discussion on the pressures, which combine to make them high risk. The second half looked at coping strategies to help to minimise the risk to individuals and groups as well as techniques to help them through the crisis. This ended with an in depth analysis of a number of case studies.

The day ended with a presentation by Leicestershire Police on the emotive and destructive subject of hate crime, stressing that anyone who is suffering from abuse or harassment to any level is a victim of a hate incident, and they should report it to the Police. The Police themselves will then deal with the complaint and assess whether it is a hate crime or hate incident, whatever their conclusion they will treat it with equal seriousness.

The key message from the day is that everyone involved in providing support for mental illness, and for individuals in crisis, is that all of the service providers are keen to work together for the best interests of the individual and their families. For those of us involved in these conditions, this is tremendously encouraging. For those who have been personally affected by Suicide, in whatever way, it was really heartening to see the compassion and support shown by the members of the Police force, as well as members of the other service providers.

The Young Carers from Labelled worked tirelessly in the lead up to the event making a range of attractive “thoughfulness” gifts which were sold on the day from the Labelled stand, and raised, along with the very generous donations of the audience an incredible £147 for the group.

The day ended with a number of people releasing Samaritans balloons into increasing cloudy sky, in memory of those who had been lost by their own hands.

Everyone present found the day both memorable and uplifting, not only empowering us to know we can make a difference to people in crisis, but also to see the tremendous support and empathy from all of the professional services present.

Once again, Labelled would like to thank everyone who took the time to come to the event, and especially to the groups who support the promotion of the event, Leicestershire Police, Suicide Awareness and Carers’ Action

Labelled Progress

About a year ago, four young people came together and learned that they had something in common… that they are all carers for older family members, and received absolutely no support or engagement from the service providers.

So, rather than sit back and mumble about being hard done by, they talked about setting up a support organisation, and a few months later Labelled for Young Carers was born.

Still a relative newcomer to the third sector support scene, the group has blossomed under the directorship of these four young people. They are now supported in the efforts by a uniquely experienced and enthusiastic management committee, comprising of a balance of younger carers and older carers with experience of working in the sector, and some of the contacts necessary to help to open the doors and make a real difference.

There is a weekly drop in session, held at the Watershed every Saturday from 12pm until 2pm which gives young carers a chance to get some much needed respite from their caring duties, as well as some fun and other outings or activities are often arranged on evenings. The management meets regularly to discuss openings and developments as well as recapping on the progress made.

Labelled continues to seek new and exciting ways to support young carers, and has now a track record of events and activities which both empower the young carers and give them something to look forward to.

The biggest event is scheduled for October 26^th, when they are hosting a Suicide Awareness Day, supported by another Carer Group, Carers Action. This event is being facilitated by the Suicide Awareness Training Partnership, and we are indebted to the local Police for generously donating the venue and providing the refreshments free of charge. This promises to be a major event bringing together many representatives of the third sector support groups.

During the time Labelled has been delivering the drop-ins, we have been able to help many young carers, and also engage when required with their parents, normally in a separate area so the young carers are able to talk openly about their issues.

The Saturday drop ins also give them a chance to hone their roller skating, basket ball, football and pool skills in the safety of the gym, supervised by responsible adults.

We are indebted to Darren Yates of Dragon’s Lair for donating so much time to Labelled to run a very popular and well received self defence course. This showed the youngsters how to deal with aggressive behaviour by people they know and strangers, as well as learning some valuable coping strategies.

The group have already done two films, one wholly devised and recorded by the young carers themselves, titled “You are that Person” selling the job of a carer as a career, and another film professionally produced and recorded to be used in projects in school aimed at identifying and supporting young carers  called “Now you Know”

As a result of a moving interview with a group of young carers on BBC Radio Leicester, they passed the transcript to the BBC where one of their producers was so impressed he is currently making a documentary about Labelled which is due to go out on BBC TV in the lead up to Christmas.

In order to further develop their impact, Labelled is working in associating with both Carers’ Action and the Samaritans, with whom they are developing a referral scheme, to give carers and service users an extra layer of support and security.

Labelled has also identified a number of shortcomings in the delivery of service, and is now working very closely, supported by Carers Action, with the Leicestershire Partnership NHS Trust, to hone their training to recognise the needs of carers.

Labelled has also put together a unique “carers eye view” training package called “Resentsitize” to contribute significantly towards training professionals of the many obstacles and trials that a carer faces. This project has been outlined already to the LPT Trust management, the county council, city council and the local police force and was very warmly received by everyone involved. Labelled aims to include professionals from all different professions together to receive this training including teachers, GP’s, Fire-fighters, Ambulance drivers, and Receptionists.

Labelled has also been invited to work with the LPT in setting up an exciting new project, establishing a Recovery College in Leicestershire, to give service users a more thorough recovery programme than has ever been available before.

It has been an exciting time to be working with such a dedicated and determined group of people, Labelled has already developed excellent relationships with the LPT, local police, CAMHs, the Leicester city and county councils and is having a real impact in the carer support field.

With the enthusiasm and commitment shown by the group so far, it is clear that Labelled will continue to develop and continue to launch innovative and positive initiatives to improve the well-being of Carers.

The young carers are inspirational to everyone they meet and are a pleasure to know.

Special thanks to Sherry for continued support on these ramblings, and the additional material in this post x