SUICIDE prevention training has been delivered to people living and working in Blackburn and Darwen.

The training session was organised by Blackburn with Darwen CVS and was delivered by Dawn Hardman from Lorien Alliance and Tony Cox from Re-align Futures.

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The event was designed to be the start of a process of making people more aware and more willing to talk about suicide and its prevention and to show there are suicide prevention opportunities in the community.

Staff from a number of local organisations attended the session, including Blackburn College, drug and alcohol support service Evolve, and support service Gateways.

The training session heard that suicide figures were unavailable for Blackburn and Darwen but in neighbouring Hyndburn five people succumbed to suicide last year and one in 17 people had suicidal thoughts in the previous 12 months.

Participants were also taught steps that could be used to prevent suicide, and were advised how to get involved in life protection, preservation and promotion activities in the community.

Geoff Wilkinson for Blackburn with Darwen CVS said: “You are more likely to come across someone with suicidal thoughts than you are coming across someone having a heart attack and yet there is little to no training on suicide first aid embedded within most work places – including within public health.

“This is the start of a journey of learning within the borough.

“It is hard to talk about suicide, even when you are supposed to be talking about it.

“Events like this and the training BwD CVS, Dawn and Tony have planned will remove barriers and the stigma attached to tackling suicide.”

Coun Ronald O’Keefe, chairman of Blackburn with Darwen Council’s Health Scrutiny Committee, said: “I think people who are dealing with people with the potential to commit suicide should have all the knowledge and expertise to deal with it.

“I’m all in favour of people being professionally trained to deal with potential suicide risks.”