Sunday 11 September 2022

A warm sunny day was the backdrop for the ESSPN walk from Catalina’s, Rose Bay to the Police station and back. Verity, Irene and I handed out pamphlets about the network as we walked. It was an excellent chance to increase awareness of suicide prevention resources in our area and to continue the work of destigmatising suicide. It also led to some interesting connections.

The speaker was Sam Fewings from “Roses in the Ocean” –www.rosesintheocean.com.au – who has lived experience of suicide attempts and now, having resigned from a well-paid corporate job, works full-time facilitating education about suicide. 

Sam asked his listeners to do three things in the next few weeks: 

1.  Contact someone you haven’t seen for a while to see whether they are OK – He contended that RUOK day should be RUOK life.

2.  Keep in contact with family and friends or join a tribe. This could be a religious group, tennis/sports club, walking group etc.  He stressed that we all need people to look out for us and for whom we can do the same.

3.  Do something really relaxing that you enjoy. He stressed the importance of self-care for us all, especially if one is involved with someone who is suicidal.

All in all, it seemed to be a worthwhile community engagement and the wonderful weather certainly contributed by encouraging more people to be outside.

May God bless any who were in need of help that day, that they may have been encouraged to seek help without embarrassment or shame.