Charity can help if you are struggling – MP
A TYNESIDE MP who lost her husband to suicide has urged people to seek help – and to ask others if they’re struggling.
Liz Twist, MP for Blaydon, lost her husband Charlie Dix in 2000, when he ended his own life at the age of 47, feeling that he had no other way out.
Ever since, she has volunteered for listening charity the Samaritans, offering an ear to anyone battling with thoughts of suicide.
Liz opened up to the Chronicle as she launched a pop-up shop for the Samaritans that has opened in the Metrocentre in December, aiming to raise funds and encourage people to call if they’re struggling over Christmas.
She said: “Charlie was a very funny, bubbly person and to most people, most of the time, he was cheery and bright. If you’d talked to him you would probably have found him quite happy and outgoing, but there were some times when he wasn’t like that.
“Things had been difficult for him for a while, and I think he reached a point where he couldn’t see any alternative which is something we hear about really often as Samaritans.”
A member of the all party parliamentary group on suicide and self-harm prevention, Liz, 62, says the loss she experienced touches “all areas” of her political work.
“It does affect all areas of my work, and it gives me an extra understanding of how people can be affected by both personal and political issues,” she said.
“I think issues surrounding suicide are something all politicians should be thinking about whenever they make any kind of legislation.”
It’s not just in politics that Liz says people should be thinking about how to help those who could be struggling.
She said: “It’s so important for us to talk to each other as human beings. As Samaritans, we’re here for people who need to offload, who need someone to listen anonymously, but we should also all try to listen to each other in our daily lives. These days we are all rushing around and probably getting a bit stressed by things, but if we just take a moment to look around, and say a few words to people around us, it can make a huge difference. It can be as simple as asking how someone is, and really listening to the answer. We need to make time for each other.”
Making time for volunteering is something that Liz said remains vital to her: despite having to make frequent trips to Westminster, when she was elected in 2017 she never considered giving up her listening post at the Tyneside Samaritans branch in Jesmond.
“I started volunteering some years ago but it was really important for me when I was elected to keep doing it,” she said.
“It’s really important to keep your feet on the ground and be part of something more than politics.”
Opening the Metrocentre store alongside fellow volunteers, Liz said she hoped it would encourage those who need support to make a call that could be lifesaving.
She said: “Samaritans are there to listen: Christmas can be a really difficult time for people and I think having the shop there will help get the message out that they’re here, at any time.
“The outreach work is so important because the more people know that we are here to listen, the more people we can help and, hopefully, help save lives.
“It doesn’t have to be high drama, and you don’t have to be feeling suicidal to call: sometimes, just having that conversation can make all the difference.”
The Samaritans shop will be running in the Village section of the Metrocentre until December 21. Tyneside Samaritans branch director Caroline Warburton said: “We’re grateful to Metrocentre management for giving us this unit for free and allowing us to promote the work of Samaritans, raise much needed funds, and promote volunteering for us.”
■ Samaritans can be reached at any time by phone on 116 123 or by email to jo@ samaritans.org