Latest news with #BatonOfHope
BBC News
22-07-2025
- Entertainment
- BBC News
Baton of Hope: Britain's Got Talent group to dance after Kent leg
An over-40s dance troupe from Kent that featured on Britain's Got Talent will perform at an event supporting the Baton of Hope suicide prevention Movers will be among performers at Dreamland in Margate on 22 September, marking the relay's passage through the performance will follow the Olympic torch-style baton travelling through Medway, Maidstone, Canterbury and Thanet as part of a nationwide dance group appeared on the ITV talent show in 2024, and organiser Debs Forsyth said the group was "really looking forward to being a part of the Baton of Hope". Ms Forsyth said she felt strongly about the campaign's message after a member of her extended family took their own life in 2023."He was fun, lovely, everybody loved him," she said, and his death came as a "big shock". If you have been affected by the issues raised in this article, help is available from BBC Action Line. The dance instructor added that Midlife Movers, which she started in 2022, had helped its members' mental health by establishing social groups and keeping participants busy."A lot of people say that for that hour they're concentrating on something else other than their problems," Ms Forsyth group has members aged between 40 and 86 about 300 "movers" at its sessions across Kent. More than 130 people will be involved in carrying the baton as it crosses the well as raising awareness of suicide prevention support, the Baton of Hope campaign aims to encourage people to talk openly about their mental health and Medway Baton of Hope Tour coordinator, Alice Scutchey, thanked the people working for helping baton bearers and communities "remember loved ones, celebrate hope and stand up to suicide stigma". The Baton of Hope will tour 20 locations around the UK in 2025, passing through East Sussex on 23 first toured the country in 2023.
BBC News
29-06-2025
- Health
- BBC News
Weston Park baton walk symbol of hope for suicide survivors
A charity started by a father who lost his son to suicide has held a Walk of Hope to encourage open conversations around mental McCarthy, a former BBC and Sky News reporter, lost his son Ross to suicide aged Ross left a farewell note asking his family to campaign for better mental health support, Mr McCarthy co-founded the charity Baton of said Saturday's event at Sheffield's Weston Park was about "smashing stigma surrounding suicide and encourage open conversation". He said: "Having witnessed first hand the trauma of losing a wonderful son with so much to give, I realised belatedly just how woeful society is when it comes to mental wellbeing."Together there is so much we can do and that includes bringing to an end the dreadful silence surrounding the subject."The event saw campaigners carry a Baton of Hope, a gold baton designed and crafted by Thomas Lyte, goldsmiths and silversmiths to Queen Elizabeth bearers included people who had lost loved ones to suicide or survived a suicide attempt. Debbi Marlow, who was among those who carried the baton, lost her brother Andrew to suicide three years said: "We've come together in the name of our loved ones and to consider people who struggle with their mental health."Suicide is everyone's business. In some way so many of us will be affected by suicide, whether we lose someone who is very special to us or we're aware of that. We're all connected as humans by suicide in some way."We need to connect and talk about it and the baton allows those conversations."Leah Laycock, who also carried the baton, witnessed her father attempt suicide as a child and is a suicide survivor said: "Once upon a time, I wouldn't talk about it but after coming across the Baton of Hope charity, meeting other people and connecting with them has helped me so much."And it's brought my journey of recovery forward very quickly, which is amazing."Carrying the baton feels like a symbol of survival, strength, and hope – not just for me but for everyone who's ever felt like they couldn't go on." Listen to highlights from South Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North
Yahoo
20-06-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
'Suicide prevention baton made me feel less alone'
A woman who lost her husband to suicide has said carrying a symbolic baton representing mental wellbeing helped her to feel less isolated. Samantha Southern, from Blackpool, who took part in the Baton of Hope tour in 2023, said it was the first time in years she had not felt alone and the event had brought her "connection". Organised by the suicide prevention charity, bereaved families are preparing to carry the baton through 20 locations in the UK again in a bid to challenge stigma and campaign for practical change. The 2025 tour begins in Blackpool in September. The baton is carried like an Olympic torch, passed from person to person, being held by 100 local people who each have a direct connection to suicide. Baton-bearers will walk through Blackpool, Fylde and Wyre. They will pass local services that can offer support for mental and physical health. They will then tour the country, including visiting Leeds, London, Bournemouth and Jersey. Mike McCarthy, co-founder of The Baton Of Hope, said: "The idea is that people who have been bereaved by suicide or survived a suicide attempt find some comfort by being involved." Suicide is the biggest killer of men under the age of 50 in the UK, according to the Samaritans. Mr McCarthy said he believed a change in strategy was needed. "Suicide is preventable, he said. "Whatever we have been doing over the last twenty years hasn't worked." He said he was motivated to start the charity after his son Ross took his own life. "He wrote a long goodbye letter and one of the things that he said in that letter was please fight for mental health, the support is just not there," he said. "If he could look down and see what we are trying to do in his name, and the name of all of the people we have lost to suicide, I'm sure he would think 'I'm proud of what you are trying to do'." The campaign is being supported by the Blackpool-based Empowerment Charity, where Ms Southern is the Solace Suicide Prevention and Bereavement Manager. Her husband Glen died in 2020 and she walked with the baton during the Baton of Hope tour in 2023. "It was the first time in two-to-three years that I hadn't felt as alone," she said. "Being with a community of people who just understood and got me. I think it brings connection." Blackpool Councillor Jo Farrell, said: "It is an honour for Blackpool to host the launch of the Baton of Hope 2025 tour. "This powerful movement shines a vital light on suicide awareness and reminds us that behind every statistic is a real person." The 2025 tour sets off from the Village Hotel in Blackpool on Monday 1 September at 08.00 BST. If you have been affected by any of the issues raised in this story you can visit BBC Action Line. Listen to the best of BBC Radio Lancashire on Sounds and follow BBC Lancashire on Facebook, X and Instagram. You can also send story ideas via Whatsapp to 0808 100 2230. Suicide prevention tour to return for second year Suicide baton relay participant wants to show hope Suicide baton relay to inspire 'open conversations'
BBC News
20-06-2025
- Health
- BBC News
Blackpool: 'Carrying Baton of Hope made me feel less alone'
A woman who lost her husband to suicide has said carrying a symbolic baton representing mental wellbeing helped her to feel less isolated. Samantha Southern, from Blackpool, who took part in the Baton of Hope tour in 2023, said it was the first time in years she had not felt alone and the event had brought her "connection". Organised by the suicide prevention charity, bereaved families are preparing to carry the baton through 20 locations in the UK again in a bid to challenge stigma and campaign for practical 2025 tour begins in Blackpool in September. The baton is carried like an Olympic torch, passed from person to person, being held by 100 local people who each have a direct connection to suicide. Baton-bearers will walk through Blackpool, Fylde and Wyre. They will pass local services that can offer support for mental and physical will then tour the country, including visiting Leeds, London, Bournemouth and McCarthy, co-founder of The Baton Of Hope, said: "The idea is that people who have been bereaved by suicide or survived a suicide attempt find some comfort by being involved." Suicide is the biggest killer of men under the age of 50 in the UK, according to the McCarthy said he believed a change in strategy was needed."Suicide is preventable, he said. "Whatever we have been doing over the last twenty years hasn't worked."He said he was motivated to start the charity after his son Ross took his own life. "He wrote a long goodbye letter and one of the things that he said in that letter was please fight for mental health, the support is just not there," he said."If he could look down and see what we are trying to do in his name, and the name of all of the people we have lost to suicide, I'm sure he would think 'I'm proud of what you are trying to do'." The campaign is being supported by the Blackpool-based Empowerment Charity, where Ms Southern is the Solace Suicide Prevention and Bereavement husband Glen died in 2020 and she walked with the baton during the Baton of Hope tour in 2023."It was the first time in two-to-three years that I hadn't felt as alone," she said. "Being with a community of people who just understood and got me. I think it brings connection."Blackpool Councillor Jo Farrell, said: "It is an honour for Blackpool to host the launch of the Baton of Hope 2025 tour. "This powerful movement shines a vital light on suicide awareness and reminds us that behind every statistic is a real person."The 2025 tour sets off from the Village Hotel in Blackpool on Monday 1 September at 08.00 BST. If you have been affected by any of the issues raised in this story you can visit BBC Action Line. Listen to the best of BBC Radio Lancashire on Sounds and follow BBC Lancashire on Facebook, X and Instagram. You can also send story ideas via Whatsapp to 0808 100 2230.
BBC News
30-05-2025
- General
- BBC News
Gillingham woman to hold charity event for men's mental health
A Kent woman is hosting an event to raise awareness of men's mental health after three friends took their own lives in the last five Davies, from Gillingham, said the event at the Tudor Rose in Upnor on Saturday aimed to raise funds for local charities, including North Kent said losing three friends since the Covid-19 pandemic had ignited a desire to "make a change" and push for men to open 31-year-old said the deaths had been profoundly impacting. "Losing someone when we could have made a change, and we could have helped them, and the society that we live in could've helped, has had a big, big impact on me," she told Stephen Brown on BBC Radio Kent's evening Davies said that she first had the idea to host an event when having a drink at the Tudor Rose."I was having a cider and I looked at my friend Joanne and said, 'I want to do a charity event'. She [Joanna] said, 'do it'."From there, Ms Davies contacted the pub landlady, who agreed to let her use the North Kent Mind, the event will also raise funds for the suicide prevention initiative Baton of Hope, MenTalk Health Sittingbourne and a mental health support group for men in to a research briefing presented to the House of Commons earlier this year, men are three times more likely to take their own lives than Ms Davies, the statistics made raising awareness more important than added: "Losing anybody in your lifetime is hard, but losing people because of the things that they couldn't talk about [is especially so]."
