Hundreds of Tamworth locals came out for Lifeline's annual Out of the Shadows Walk for suicide prevention and awareness. Video by Jonathan Hawes
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00:00 [Music]
00:10 World Suicide Prevention Day today.
00:13 It's a special day and a day where at Lifeline we feel we want to create an opportunity for people to come together
00:21 who may have had some experience of suicide in their life and to feel supported
00:27 and to feel that they have a place where they can breathe openly
00:31 and feel that they have comfort in people around them that might have had similar experiences.
00:38 [Music]
00:55 What brings you out here this morning?
00:58 I lost my brother to suicide in the year 2000.
01:02 And yeah, I heard about this walk and I thought, yeah, okay, I'm in.
01:08 It's just, and it's so important that people do chat to somebody.
01:13 Back then there wasn't, you know, there was always Lifeline and that, but it wasn't well documented like things are now.
01:22 So, yeah, so it's important to get the awareness out there and just tell people to talk to somebody.
01:31 If you don't want to talk to family, talk to a stranger. Pick up that phone, talk to somebody.
01:35 Because, I mean, I know, I know, I've been down, everybody in their life has been, you know, anxious or down or depressed.
01:43 Pick up the phone, talk to somebody. Yeah.
01:46 [Music]
02:00 I think it's important to talk about suicide.
02:03 You know, when we talk about mental illness, it can be a hard topic.
02:07 And then further to that, when we talk about suicide, there's a real taboo around it.
02:12 So, it's great to have this opportunity where people can feel safe and supported.
02:17 Can come and just walk and reflect on someone that they've loved or a memory that they've had
02:23 and feel like they're in a safe environment to do that and to talk about it.
02:28 [Background noise]
02:51 Why are you out here this morning?
02:53 So, I actually work for an organisation called Standby.
02:56 We were involved with this last year as well.
02:58 So, I support people who've been bereaved or impacted by suicide.
03:01 So, obviously, really relevant for our organisation to have a face here today.
03:05 I also have my own personal experience with suicide bereavement as well.
03:08 And I think it's just really important to get out and raise awareness, make sure that people are comfortable talking about...
03:16 [Laughter]
03:17 Sorry.
03:18 That's all right.
03:20 About these kind of things and just making sure that the conversation is becoming the normal.
03:25 And as we talk about these things more, people are more likely to seek help before it gets to that stage.
03:30 [Background noise]