Back in June 2023, PAPYRUS partnered with Kirklees Council in supporting their delivery of the Yorkshire “Speak Their Name” Suicide Bereavement and Memorial Quilts Roadshow.The Suicide Memorial and Bereavement Quilts Roadshow toured across Kirklees in June as a travelling exhibition honouring lives lost and raising awareness about suicide prevention in Yorkshire and other forms of bereavement.
The exhibition, organised by Kirklees Council, featured the Yorkshire ‘Speak Their Name’ Memorial – a 12 months in the making exhibit which was created with the help of hundreds of local people across Yorkshire impacted by suicide.
The quilts are made up of around 200 hand-decorated squares, each telling their own story of a loved one lost to suicide in Yorkshire. The roadshow visually demonstrates the very real reality of suicide, emphasising that it is happening across Yorkshire and, specifically, in Kirklees – which has a higher-than-average rate of suicide when compared to the rest of England – in the hopes of encouraging people to talk more openly about suicide and seek support.
The roadshow visited 13 venues across four weeks, travelling to communities across Kirklees, with a focus on South Asian communities where suicide is often still considered taboo. As part of this work, PAPYRUS were on hand to support anyone affected and raise awareness of our life-saving helpline, HOPELINE247.
Across the month-long roadshow, PAPYRUS delivered a total of five SP-ARK (Suicide Prevention – Awareness, Resource, Knowledge), five SP-OT (Suicide Prevention – Overview Tutorial) and two SP-EAK (Suicide Prevention – Explore, Ask, Keep-Safe) sessions, which fall into our wider partnership work with Kirklees Council, who have commissioned PAPYRUS to deliver suicide prevention training until September 2024.
The Suicide Bereavement and Memorial Roadshow was an incredibly moving experience. Many people were brave enough to share their stories for the first time, and these conversations highlighted that no one is alone – in either their thoughts of suicide or their grief of losing someone. Everyone has a story to tell, and events such as the roadshow demonstrate the need for communities to come together to talk about suicide and encourage people to access support.
The roadshow marks a significant turning point for many communities in Kirklees, with many people reaching out to PAPYRUS to access training and further learn how to create suicide-safer communities. It has created a presence that would not have been there otherwise, which we can now utilise to support community members and help prevent suicides in Yorkshire.
Thank you to Kirklees Council and particularly, Sharni Athwal for involving us in such an impactful event.
If you reside in or near West Yorkshire and would like to take part in suicide prevention training, please visit here for all upcoming sessions.
