The overall aim of the event is to open a dialogue about the topic with guest speakers sharing their stories and expertise.
The event was open to everyone and it was fully booked in advance.
The presentations yesterday included talks on ‘breaking the silence’ for those bereaved by suicide, along with advice on how to support children and young people affected by suicide.
There were also discussions around lived experience and the effects of suicide.
Angela Samata was one of the guest speakers.
She is a Lived-Experience Advisor who lost her husband to suicide more than a decade ago. She is also a Trainer, and Creative Consultant at Suicide Bereavement UK.
“I think for me, anything that we can do to start a conversation about suicide bereavement to think about what the link is between suicide, bereavement, and suicide prevention, we have to have those conversations,” she said.
“When we were invited as a team, I think that we thought that we were going to be speaking amongst other people, but actually, we are the speakers. So it’s been absolutely wonderful to be invited back (to the island) and I am absolutely delighted to see the collaboration that’s going on, on the island.
“We were invited by Guernsey Mind and Samaritans and now we’ve met the ladies from Talking Benches, and there is a huge amount of collaborative working going on on the island, and we are so delighted to help celebrate that.
“Every single chair in that room today is full and that is just so wonderful to see. There feels like there’s a real impetus, and there’s lots of individuals who are working incredibly hard to try and challenge the stigma around suicide and hopefully make things better for everybody on the island.”
Pictured (l-r): Liz Koole, Angela Samata, and Dr Sharon McDonnell.
Ms Samata was joined by Dr Sharon McDonnell and Liz Koole at the event.
Dr McDonnell is a specialist in suicide bereavement research while Ms Koole is a social worker, who has dedicated her career to working with children and families following bereavement by suicide.
The three women all spoke at yesterday’s event, along with other guest speakers such as the Lieutenant Governor.
There were representatives from numerous organisations in attendance including the Youth Commission, Education, and Health.
Today will see a shift in focus from discussion to practical training with Suicide Bereavement UK delivering its Responding to Suicide (RTS) programme to emergency services personnel.
Pictured: The two day conference included hearing examples of lived experiences yesterday and training today.
The RTS workshop was developed to “help increase skills and confidence when responding to those bereaved by suicide”.
Its content is described as “highly evidence based and has been produced with emergency services personnel”. This means that it recognises and addresses the personal impact of suicide on everyone affected, as well as providing tools, techniques and practical information for those who may be called to respond.
The cost of this important training has been covered by the three charities involved in organising the conference – Talking Benches, Guernsey Mind, and the Samaritans.
Guernsey Mind is also running its Suicide First Aid Lite training today.
The half day session has been designed to help participants spot the early signs that someone may be struggling, enabling them to build the confidence to apply a ‘first aid approach’ to avoid a crisis and to help someone with thoughts of suicide stay safe and stay alive.
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