Summit to talk about
A suicide prevention summit saw more than a hundred representatives from dozens of voluntary sector organisations converge on Strathclyde Park.
The Suicide Prevention Engagement Event took place at the Alona Hotel yesterday and was a meeting of minds of individuals and organisations from across the whole of Lanarkshire, who are best placed to tackle suicide and associated mental health issues.
Hosted by Voluntary Action North Lanarkshire (VANL), in partnership with Health & Social Care North Lanarkshire, Health & Social Care Partnership (South Lanarkshire) and Voluntary Action South Lanarkshire, the event provided the opportunity to discuss challenges and issues affecting communities and how different organisations could work together as to address them.
Prominent local charities such as Chris’s House, The Miracle Foundation, and FAMS (Families Against Murder and Suicide) were represented as were national organisations such as SAMH and Samaritans.
Chris’s House founder Anne Rowan said:“This is pulling everyone together which is the right way to go forward. With health and social care everyone should be working together.
“It’s showcased what everyone is doing and it’s about acknowledging the strengths of each organisations, and the differences. There’s not one fit for all.
“We can improve by working together but at Chris’s House we don’t get much time to work with anyone else.
“We should all be on the one page, and that page is helping people in crisis as quickly as we can, and supporting those who have lost people to suicide.
“The NHS train and deliver a medical model, but there’s the sociological side of things to be considered.
“Life and living has changed so dramatically and we all have to catch up with societal changes and keep abreast of that.”
There were over 160 different people invited along to the ticketed event from across the Lanarkshire area, including representatives from Getting Better Together in Shotts, Lanarkshire Carers Centre, St Andrew’s Hospice, and REACH Lanarkshire Autism.
Jackie Melville, programme manager for community solutions at VANL, said:“The idea was that community and voluntary organisations would come together and start to talk about what they could be doing or what they could be doing more of.
“The delegates who were invited were primarily community and voluntary sector organisations because that’s really who we needed to hear from but councils had representatives here.
“Everything that’s been said will be considered before we decide on the best way forward.”