Sea of hands support comes to Salford to fight causes of suicide

Dennis Baldwin, Project Manager of reach out start to End suicide, talks about how the campaign is helping to spread awareness of suicide in Salford.

The highest rates of suicide across greater Manchester last year were both Bolton and Salford with 31 people taking their own lives.

The campaign Reach out: Start to end suicide hosted an event last Thursday on world mental health day at Swinton civic center called sea of hands which is a display of 126 flags with each flag representing a life lost to suicide in Salford over the last five years.

Image Credit: Lewis Atherton

“It’s about presenting the scale of the lives lost to suicide in Salford but it also helps to instigate conversations and break down the stigma surrounding suicide” says project manager Dennis Baldwin.

“It’s about showing that if people are at home experiencing those thoughts that the community is here for them.

“I’m an attempt survivor myself, a lot of it is about reflecting on my experiences and my recovery as well”.

Start run a volunteering group every Friday between 1pm and 3pm in Brunswick house.

If anyone is interested they can get in contact with the website at https://www.startinspiringminds.org.uk/contact/.

They also go on tour with the Sea of Hands support and go to local community events.

They have also gone to building sites, offered to lunch to construction workers and have managed to engage people in that occupation about their own mental health. Construction workers are at the greatest risk of committing suicide than anyone in the country.1,400 people took their lives in the country between 2011 and 2015 according to national statistics.