Free suicide prevention training being rolled out across Lancashire

For a limited period, Lancashire Mind can offer funded places for a range of training courses, aimed at increasing awareness of suicide.

Lancashire Mind are leading a consortium of training providers to deliver a range of workshops and courses to increase suicide awareness across Lancashire and South Cumbria. We want to contribute towards reducing the rates of suicide in Lancashire, which are the third highest in England, by supporting people to learn more about suicide.

The training has been commissioned as part of Healthier Lancashire and South Cumbria’s suicide prevention programme. This means that Lancashire Mind can offer funded places on training courses until end of March 2020. This is on top of courses that are already provided free of charge by local organisations in Blackpool, Blackburn with Darwen and Lancashire, meaning we can reach more people.

The training aims to increase knowledge and understanding of mental health, to equip people with the ability to spot signs of poor mental health and the confidence to talk about suicide. It will be delivered in workplaces, educational and community settings to ensure we raise awareness of mental health, self-harm and suicide, and build resilience across communities.

We are targeting workplaces because the majority of people who die by suicide are in employment and are not known to mental health services. The consortium can also offer tailored courses for perinatal mental health and children and young people’s mental health.