From the 4th to the 10th September, organisations, people and communities in Essex and Herts are lighting up buildings and landmarks green, as part of the ‘Creating hope through light’ event.

The Creating hope through light week-long event, hopes to raise awareness of suicide prevention and challenge residents to take the suicide prevention training, which can be accessed on www.letstalkbaoutsuicide.co.uk

It’s a joint initiative from Mid and South Essex and Hertfordshire and West Essex Integrated Care System and Thurrock and Brentwood Mind and is part of their #LetsTalkAboutSuicide campaign.  It aims at reducing the stigma around talking about suicide and encourages people to take the free online suicide prevention training, as well as highlight the other mental health resources available in Essex and Hertfordshire.

The suicide prevention training focuses on three key elements See, Say, Signpost.  See the problem, Say the words, Signpost to support and it gives people the knowledge and the confidence to talk to someone who might be at risk of or thinking about suicide.

People can also take part by joining the social media campaign on #CreatingHopeThroughLight, as well as upload personal messages and videos using the campaign resources available www.letstalkaboutsuicide.co.uk .  You can also follow the campaigns on Instagram @talksuicideessex, Twitter @talksuicidesx and Facebook @letstalkaboutsuicideessex