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Suicide prevention campaign launched on beer mats

Kate Justicein Hereford
News imageBBC A woman with long blonde hair is wearing a white top underneath red patterned dungarees. She is holding a blue beer mat and standing next to a river, with a bridge inthe distance behind her.BBC
Alicia Potter, the CEO of Herefordshire Mind says the group wants to "enable people to feel that they can speak" to friends and family

Thousands of beer mats signposting people to mental health support are being distributed in pubs, bars and cafes in Hereford as part of a suicide prevention initiative.

Mental health charity, Herefordshire Mind, has produced the mats alongside Herefordshire Council.

They are printed with information about where to get mental health support, locally as well as nationally, and contain a QR code to access help on a smartphone.

"It's aimed at providing accessible information for people who are struggling with their mental health to be able to find ways that they can reach out and get help." said CEO of Herefordshire MIND, Alicia Potter.

News imageA blue and pink beer mat with text, numbers and a QR code is being held up to the camera by someone with pink nail varnish. There is a bridge and some houses in the background.
Each beer mat contains signposting to local suppport services , alongside a QR code linking people to a wider range of mental health resources and support services.

"We particularly provided this information on beer mats and it's easy to find - people can discreetly take away with them and also it's about bringing that information to the places where people are, places where they may come if they're struggling."

Staff are also being briefed on how to spot a mental health emergency, and flow charts that give guidance about how to help have been put up in staff rooms.

Cameron Lewis is facilities manager at De Koffie Pot on the banks of the River Wye at the Left Bank. He says the 20,000 beer mats being distributed go "hand in hand with some advice for staff.

"You've just got to you know look out for certain people... it is a good place to socialise, but you will find people on their own and you've just got to look out for people who you might think be struggling."

News imageA man wearing a black zip up jacket and a black backwards facing baseball cap smiles at the camera. He is standing in front of a sign for a cafe. On the right is a woman in a blue top, with shoulder length dark hair. She is wearing glasses and hoop earrings. Several picnic benches can be seen behind them.
De Koffie Pot facilities manager, Cameron Lewis (left), and site manager Liv Chamberlain have been briefed alongside staff on how to spot people who might be struggling with their mental health

Site manager Liv Chamberlain admitted the conversation around mental health was difficult, amid "some high profile incidents in the local area".

"We want to partner with the necessary organisations to make sure that the awareness amongst our community is as high as possible and we can work together to prevent unfortunate situations from occurring."

Alicia Potter from Mind said more people had taken their own lives in the area in recent years.

"Sadly, Herefordshire has got a suicide rate and there is a definite increase around the numbers of males... we want to be really open to talking about that and really enable people to feel that they can speak to their friends, speak to their colleagues, not be afraid to have that conversation, not be afraid to reach out."

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