{"id":407515,"date":"2025-09-08T09:57:15","date_gmt":"2025-09-08T09:57:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/407515\/"},"modified":"2025-09-08T09:57:15","modified_gmt":"2025-09-08T09:57:15","slug":"council-launches-new-campaign-to-reduce-stigma-surrounding-suicide","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/407515\/","title":{"rendered":"Council launches new campaign to reduce stigma surrounding suicide"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>                                                <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"image image--feature\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Post_1_1200x628.jpg\" alt=\"Suicide prevention campaign\"\/>                            <\/p>\n<p class=\"summary\">Havering Council has launched a new suicide prevention campaign aimed at breaking the silence around suicide and encouraging people to seek available support.<\/p>\n<p>It follows last years\u2019 suicide prevention consultation in Havering, where residents highlighted the urgent need to reduce stigma surrounding suicide.<\/p>\n<p>The campaign seeks to shift public attitudes from fear and misunderstanding to a culture of openness and empathy and was produced with the support of the Havering Lived Experience Advisory Group \u2013 people who have personal experience of suicide.<\/p>\n<p>In Havering, one resident dies by suicide every three weeks &#8211; a rate higher than the London average (2020 to 2022 data). Local work on suicide prevention is seeking to address this.<\/p>\n<p>In March 2025, the Havering All-Age Suicide Prevention Strategy was launched and sets out a five-year plan to save lives by:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>identifying<\/strong> people at increased risk of suicide and the reasons why<\/li>\n<li>reducing stigma and increasing knowledge of how to <strong>prevent<\/strong> suicide\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>strengthening <strong>support<\/strong> at both individual and population levels, including people at risk of suicide and the bereaved<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Councillor Gillian Ford, Cabinet Member for Adults and Wellbeing, said:<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe must break the fear of stigma. Reaching out for support is a sign of strength, not weakness.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAsking someone if they have suicidal thoughts won\u2019t put the idea into their head, but it could be the first, crucial step towards them getting help.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere are numerous agencies who can support anyone who is feeling suicidal, including help to address challenges that may be contributing to their current situation, such as finances, bereavement, use of substances and more. With the right support we want them to know that their situation can get better.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Sandeep Saib,<a href=\"https:\/\/www.havering.gov.uk\/public-health\/suicide-prevention-self-harm\/5\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"> Havering Lived Experience Advisory Group<\/a>\u00a0member, reflects:\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt felt like I was drowning in silence. But slowly, words came\u2014and so did relief. Talking about suicidal thoughts can feel terrifying, but it\u2019s also a powerful step toward healing.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Along with partners, the Council will also be marking World Suicide Prevention Day on 10 September, with a full day conference at CEME, Rainham.<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"button \" href=\"https:\/\/www.havering.gov.uk\/public-health\/suicide-prevention-self-harm\/2\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Support is available\u00a0for those affected by suicide or having suicidal thoughts<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"meta meta--date\">\n    <strong>Published:<\/strong><br \/>\n    8 September 2025<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Havering Council has launched a new suicide prevention campaign aimed at breaking the silence around suicide and encouraging&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":407516,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7757],"tags":[748,393,4884,257,30704,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-407515","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-london","8":"tag-britain","9":"tag-england","10":"tag-great-britain","11":"tag-london","12":"tag-suicide-prevention","13":"tag-uk","14":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115168086834387508","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/407515","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=407515"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/407515\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/407516"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=407515"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=407515"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=407515"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}