'Fantastic' response to Chesterfield town centre suicide awareness event

Organisers of a suicide awareness event in Chesterfield town centre say they had a ‘fantastic’ response and helped dozens of people.
By Tim Paget
Published 6th Jan 2020, 17:00 GMT
Updated 8th Jan 2020, 09:35 GMT
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‘A Friend For Life: Chesterfield Suicide Awareness & Prevention Day’ took place on Saturday, January 4 in New Square.

Organiser Luke Povey said a striking display of more than 100 shoes, to represent every person that is lost to suicide each week, helped to capture people’s attention.

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“It had a really strong impact and we probably helped about 200 people on the day,” Luke said.

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Suicide awarness event at New Square, Chesterfield. Pictured are Tom Garrett, Luke Povey, Dave from Samaritans, Abigale Waterhouse and Jason Cotton with the ducklings that represent child suicide in the UK.Suicide awarness event at New Square, Chesterfield. Pictured are Tom Garrett, Luke Povey, Dave from Samaritans, Abigale Waterhouse and Jason Cotton with the ducklings that represent child suicide in the UK.
Suicide awarness event at New Square, Chesterfield. Pictured are Tom Garrett, Luke Povey, Dave from Samaritans, Abigale Waterhouse and Jason Cotton with the ducklings that represent child suicide in the UK.

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“We had a lot of good conversations and a lot of people took contact details for the organisations available and offering help and advice.”

There was also a display of more than 270 rubber ducks, representing the number of children tragically lost to suicide last year.

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Organisations which took part on the Market Place included The Samaritans, Men-Talk, Fem-Talk, The Tomorrow Project and Fuzzy Ducks.

MORE: The tragic reason why 100 shoes will be on display in Chesterfield town centre

Luke, who suffers with mental health problems himself, says he hopes there will be further events in Chesterfield.

“I always tell people when talking about my own experience that I have not jut been there, I am still there,” he added.

“I hope this event will spread the message there is help out there for people who need it.

“I would be very surprised if there weren’t more events in future.”

Related topics:OrganisersChesterfieldThe Samaritans