Trust marks end of suicide prevention campaign by staging World Mental Health Day activities

Essex Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust plans to mark the end of its month-long suicide prevention and awareness campaign by staging a range of activities on World Mental Health Day.

Staff will wear green – the colour of good mental health - serve healthy green food, hold a mini-fete and celebrate the 10th birthday of one of their hospitals as they use the awareness day on Thursday (10) to reinforce their two key messages: download free self-help app Stay Alive and complete the 20-minute online training course run by the Zero Suicide Alliance.

Staff in EPUT’s inpatient and community services will raise awareness by wearing green clothes and serving healthy food to encourage people to have a healthy mind.

Colleagues at Basildon Mental Health Unit will hold their own mini-fete version of Germany’s Oktoberfest, featuring games such as hook-a-duck and ‘guess the number of jelly beans’. Music, a tombola, cupcakes and other prizes will also be offered.

Meanwhile, staff from the Trust’s Social Care Leadership Team will visit Harlow Library to promote the Stay Alive app and provide employment and health advice, while colleagues from the Recruitment Team will hold a jobs fair from 10am until 4pm at West Essex Golf Club, in Bury Road, Chingford.

Twenty-four hours later, staff at Brockfield House, EPUT’s secure hospital in Runwell, near Wickford, will join forces with patients to celebrate the service’s tenth birthday.

The Trust is urging people to continue following its campaign by visiting its website and using the hashtag #intheirshoes on its Facebook and Twitter channels via @EPUTNHS.

EPUT is also inviting them to share their messages, photos, illustrations and videos on its social media platforms by using the hashtags #WorldMentalHealthDay and #40seconds, to highlight the fact that one person takes their own life every 40 seconds.

Further advice and support is available on the internet from ‘Every Mind Matters’, the new national mental health campaign organised by Public Health England and promoted across the NHS.