Gary isn’t a minister or a social worker. But his job does involve dealing with the public and he sometimes gets into conversations worthy of either of those two occupations.

Today, I noticed his desk was abandoned while he talked to someone in a quiet corner.

It turned out the man had tried to end it all a few hours before.

Later, I asked him if the conversation had ended on a good note.

He thought about it and said: “There were no bad notes. Sure, a lot had gone wrong, and he was still in a problematic place. But all of that was before he decided to ask for help.

“After that, it was all good. Awkward, and difficult sometimes...but good.”

It’s often not an easy decision to make. It takes a lot of courage sometimes. But it does make all the difference.