Steve Phillip’s Post

Our house flows quite well, we think. You can actually do circular laps from my home office, through the kitchen, via the dining room, into the hall, across the lounge before arriving at my office. The time it takes to walk 5 laps of the house, equates to me being able to rehearse Part 1 & 2 of the TedX Talk I will be delivering at the University of the West of England next Friday, 26th April. My talk is titled: “Suicide – creating ripples of hope” Before next Friday, I need to rehearse Parts, 3-5 and then hopefully with some final in-car practise as I drive the 219 miles from Harrogate to Bristol, I will have memorised everything and be able to deliver all the right words and completely in the right order! I understand that the event is sold out but in case of cancellations, this is the event booking link: https://lnkd.in/eydHM3pE If anyone has any great memory or recall techniques, please feel free to share them in the comments below - you might just help a few people, aside from me being extremely grateful too. 🙏 A big shout out to my fellow speakers who I will be sharing the stage with next week, including: Cara M. de Lange, Ceylan Boyce, Clare Kenny, Lucy S., Henriette Danel, Philip Holmes, Sourajit Aiyer, Syed Ayaan Reza and Atlas Alexander (Alexander Atlas). I think I might walk the anti-clockwise route tomorrow and start in the lounge?!! 🤔 #suicideprevention #zerosuicidesociety

This Sunday, April 21st, a young man who shouldn't really be alive, is running the London Marathon to raise funds to support our work at The Jordan Legacy CIC. In February 2023, the mother of Reece Calvert, from Newcastle-upon-Tyne contacted the railways to attempt to halt all incoming and outgoing trains in the area because she knew her son was planning to end his life there. Following a long period of struggling with alcohol abuse, Reece could no longer continue living alongside his addiction. On 27th of February this year, Reece was one year sober, he'd quit smoking and gambling also because of the devastating impact these addictions were having on his mental health and those around him. Reece explains; “All the time I experienced these addictions, I was trying to stop but found there was barely any help or support available. Or if there was, I didn’t know where it was or how to access it. Improving mental health and supporting others who are experiencing the kind of problems I’ve been through is really important to me. I want to show those who are struggling that there is hope, no matter how low they are and how hopeless they might be feeling”. So, this Sunday, I'll be huddled around my TV (or is that what people did in the 60's?) trying to pick Reece out from the crowd as he tackles this iconic 26.2 mile run. If I don't spot him, I'll still know that yet another incredible human has found the courage and spirit to overcome his demons and in doing so, is now wanting to put himself through a different kind of pain to raise funds to support those who are struggling with their own thoughts of suicide. Sunday's run is one of 4 Reece is undertaking to support The Jordan Legacy CIC. He's already undertaken a 52k ultra marathon on March 16th, dressed as a sperm (it's a long story! 😂 ), then it's the London Marathon on April 21st, followed by the Edinburgh Marathon on May 26th. Then (incredibly!), he’s going to complete his epic fundraising challenge by undertaking the 70 mile ultra marathon along Hadrian’s wall three weeks later! The Jordan Legacy has seen people taking on some incredible challenges to help raise funds to support our work in preventing suicides but Reece’s efforts seem to be at a whole new level! If you would like to support Reece and therefore, our mission at The Jordan Legacy, to move towards a 'Zero Suicide Society, then please donate to this JustGiving page: https://lnkd.in/eudAY9cY Thank you and good luck Reece for this Sunday. 🙏 #suicideprevention #zerosuicidesociety

"He didn't want to die, he simply couldn't continue living with the mental pain he was suffering" I know, from countless conversations I've had with those who have contemplated suicide or attempted, that most suicides are preventable. How do I know this? Because, so many have said that at the moment they made their attempt, they instantly knew they wanted to live.......they just couldn't continue living the life they were anymore. The day after my son took his own life, one of the items we found on his kitchen table was the shopping list you see in the image below. Does someone who intends to longer be here, plan to go to the dentist or purchase teabags, toilet rolls and washing up liquid? As a society, how can we do more to prevent people like Jordan from feeling that there is no way out of their chronic mental or physical pain and help them find a reason to go on and hopefully thrive in life? At The Jordan Legacy CIC, we have a plan and we'd like you to join us to understand this plan and be willing and able to contribute to that plan - as a society, a 'Zero Suicide Society', we cannot continue to turn a blind eye to the 6000+ suicides of men, women and children in the UK every year. We can no longer accept suicide being the biggest killer of people under 35. We cannot accept that the most recently announced increase in suicide numbers in the UK (6% from 2022-23) from the Office for National Statistics is something we can't do anything about. Suicide can affect anyone - it can happen to your employee, manager, work colleague, it can happen to someone in your school or higher education centre. It can happen in your community or in your family. And before you say, "Steve, this is a depressing post for a Monday morning!", here's the upside.....anyone can help prevent suicides and that includes you! You just have to believe and then be willing and able to do something about it! Want to find out how you become part of the solution? Purchase a ticket to attend our #ZeroSuicide #JoinTheDots Tour launch conference on June 12th in Scunthorpe (easy train links from Doncaster) and discover how you can be part of the puzzle to get the numbers of suicides in this country on a downward trend, towards zero. Full details about the incredible speaker and panel guest line up and how to book your ticket(s) here: https://lnkd.in/ew6YZavx Who in your workplace do you believe should attend? Who in your school should be there? Who in your community needs to be there? I hope you can join us for one of the most important suicide prevention events of 2024 and please would you share this post with your connections. Thank you. 🙏 #Suicideprevention

𝐃𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐥𝐞𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐌𝐇𝐅𝐀 𝐜𝐞𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐢𝐫𝐞 When did you become a certified Mental Health First Aider? Did you know that your MHFA England® certification will expire and need renewing 36 months following your attendance on the original course. This means that if you achieved your certification in 2021, to remain a certified MHFA, you will need to take a refresher course this year before your certification expires.   The Jordan Legacy CIC's partner and wonderful MHFA trainer, Tara Powell is is offering an opportunity for you to attend her one remaining refresher online course at a significantly reduced fee.    Course date: Thursday 25th April from 9:15am - 1:00pm   Book now and you will be able to sharpen the saw as far as your MHFA knowledge is concerned and get your recertification for a further 3 years.   Instead of the usual refresher course fee of £150 plus VAT, you will be able to attend the online session at the reduced rate of £99 - this includes re-certification and MHFA materials posted directly to you and no added VAT.   Tara has also generously offered to make a donation to the The Jordan Legacy for each person who books and mentions us at the time of booking.   Session availability   The session will be delivered remotely via zoom - there are only a few limited spaces available.   Here is the link for the 25th of April, 9.15am - Finish 1pm Course booking form · MHFA England https://lnkd.in/ejMMMcqw    Once you have completed the registration form, Tara will be directly in touch.   Don’t miss this fantastic opportunity to refresher your skills and update your knowledge and potentially save a life! #mentalhealth #suicideprevention #zerosuicidesociety

On June 18th 2021, Mike McCarthy and I met up for the first time. We sat outside a bistro clinging tightly to our cups of coffee and our emotions. 4 months earlier Mike had lost his 31 year old son, Ross, to suicide, 19 months earlier, my son, Jordan also took his own life. I was still early into my journey with The Jordan Legacy CIC and Mike was talking about wanting to hide away from the world. How times have changed for both of us. On May 16th, at the Octagon Centre in Sheffield, just a stones throw from where Mike and I first met, I will be participating in a panel discussion session as part of the BatonOfHopeUK Conference 2024. Also on that panel, will be Emma Webb, who many of you will have seen on national TV fundraising walk with a huge model horse named Miles in memory of her daughter Brodie. On the panel will also be Mike Palmer, one third of the 3 Dads Walking and Nick Wilson, adventurer, speaker and a survivor of suicide. Have you booked your ticket to attend this conference, if not, here's the Eventbrite link: https://lnkd.in/e46uPbhX Another suicide prevention event that you won't want to miss. I say 'another' because it seems like this country is, at last, being prepared to have the discussion about a topic that for too many years has been taboo - we are starting to break the stigma at last! With speakers like Professor Rory O'Connor, Alastair Campbell, Sally Orange MBE, Chris Moon MBE and many others, I would strongly urge you to make this date available in your calendar. The Jordan Legacy CIC will also have a presence in the Charity Village, where you'll get to see the actual Baton of Hope, the Speak Their Name Quilt and performances from singer-songwriter Melody Reed. I'll be delivering a brief talk in the Charity Village about The Jordan Legacy's upcoming #ZeroSuicideSociety #JoinTheDots Tour, Conference and Festival which is happening this June. Details here: https://lnkd.in/ezfS4zfb Suicide claims the lives of 120 people every week in the UK, 6000+ in total annually. It is the biggest killer of people under 35 - remember, Ross was 31 and Jordan 34. Will you support these events; the Baton of Hope Conference 2024 and The Jordan Legacy's #JoinTheDots tour and help us all move closer towards a 'Zero Suicide Society'?

Does this description sound like you: "Willing and able to do all I can to help prevent all preventable suicides"? At The Jordan Legacy CIC, our mission is to help us move toward a ‘zero suicide society’ which, in our eyes, is a society that is willing and able to do all it can to prevent all preventable suicides. We know we can't achieve this mission alone, which is why, if you meet the description above, we'd like you to join us on June 12th at the very accessible Baths Hall in Scunthorpe, for the launch of the #ZeroSuicideSociety #JoinTheDots tour, which runs from June 12th until the 23rd, from the Humber to the Mersey. Did you miss our launch webinar yesterday? If you're curious about what's happening on these dates, here's a link to the recording: https://lnkd.in/efsjxS2R Why else should you attend this conference? 👉 Is this a good enough reason: "Suicide Prevention Education in Schools"? We have the most incredible line-up of speakers and panel members at the event on June 12th and here's just one example: In the 3 months prior to our Launch Conference, former Wigan Primary School Teacher now Edge Hill University PhD researcher, Nina Jo Smith, has been on her Churchill Fellowship tour in Australia & the US, researching School-Based Suicide Prevention Strategies. Nina will be able to tell us about her personal & professional journey and how she tragically lost her brother Will to suicide in 2021 when he was just 30. She'll also be sharing key learnings from her research at Edge Hill University, reflections on her Fellowship travel, and key conclusions & recommendations that will be featuring in her Churchill Fellowship Report. Alongside Nina and discussing the topic of suicide prevention in schools, will be people like Mike Palmer of the 3 Dads Walking, Louisa Rose, CEO of the schools charity Beyond and Dr Sue Roffey, who amongst other roles, is an international consultant & speaker, and director of Growing Great Schools Worldwide focused on ‘whole child & whole school’ wellbeing, including teachers. 👉 For just £120 you will also hear from this impressive line up of people: https://lnkd.in/ew6YZavx To reserve your place at the launch conference, you can book directly via the Eventbrite page here: https://lnkd.in/ePHCbDDX This event is being hosted in collaborative partnership with North Lincolnshire Council Public Health, who have provided incredible support to ensure this conference is one of the most important suicide prevention events of 2024. Will you be joining us? #suicideprevention #zerosuicidesociety #JoinTheDots

"Incredible work, guys. You really are changing the world" Just one of the comments received following The Jordan Legacy CIC's webinar this morning. At 10:30am today Paul Vittles and myself delivered a 60-minute webinar to launch the upcoming #ZeroSuicideSociety #JoinTheDots Tour, with wonderful cameo appearances during the Q&A session from Mike Palmer (3 Dads Walking), Maggie Abrahart, best known for her tireless work, together with her husband, Bob and the ForThe100 Group, as well comments from Doug Cave of The LEARN Network, Marc Ewen and Rebecca Jackson. If you missed this morning's live webinar, you now have an opportunity to watch/listen to a full recording of the session. What to expect from this 60-minute recording: ✅ Understanding the context of “Zero Suicide” and “Zero Suicide Society” ✅ Where the idea for the #ZeroSuicideSociety #JoinTheDots Tour originated ✅ A tour of the Tour – what is happening and when ✅ Plus: a further 15 minute additional Q&A session. If you want to learn about what many are calling a ground-breaking suicide prevention approach and then share it with others who would value being a part of the solution in helping prevent all preventable suicides, then please watch the recording of today's webinar. 👉 Click this link: https://lnkd.in/erD3nR9w And then... Book your conference ticket(s) for June 12th here: https://lnkd.in/ePHCbDDX Book your tickets for the Merseyside Festival here: https://lnkd.in/eym_tvek It's time for a breakthrough in suicide prevention - will you be part of the solution or simply a bystander whilst others do all they can to help the UK move towards a 'Zero Suicide Society'? We hope you will join us 🙏

" There's an assumption that people living in rural areas have a lovely outlook. It's all, picturesque, calm, and healing, when actually it can feel the opposite. It can feel like a prison and assumptions kill people.." Melanie Costas ~ Pink Haired Warrior 💗is our guest on tomorrow evening's episode of Jordan's Space on YOWAH Radio - Your wellbeing and happiness radio station. Melanie is the Founder of Rural Health Matters Ltd: https://lnkd.in/eBkz2P7d established in Dorset in 2019 to provide a more equitable, inclusive and accessible mental health service that's visible in rural communities. In this frank and eye-opening conversation, Melanie explains how Dorset has a 46% rural population and the problems this county faces relating to isolation, accessing public transport to attend mental health support sessions - assuming you know where to find these - and the discrimination and lack of parity faced, when it comes to accessing adequate, preventative services, is also reflected in other rural communities around the country. Don't miss this important conversation about a community that many of us living in more urban populations need to understand more about. You can hear Danielle, Paul and I chatting with Melanie at 7pm (GMT) on Thursday 11th April via this link: https://lnkd.in/gTGXm6Uc Will you be joining us? Or, you can listen to the recording of this show from next week, as well as recordings of previous episodes of Jordan's Space on this page of our website: https://lnkd.in/dSMEQEU4 #RuralMentalHealthMatters #SuicidePrevention #ZeroSuicideSociety

In the past week, we have heard the shocking news... ...suicide numbers in England have increased! The Office for National Statistics published the latest statistics (they're not statistics, they're individual human lives lost to one of the most preventable means of death in modern society), which shows an increase of 6% on 2022. A 5% increase for men & an 8% increase for women. As our collaborative partner, Paul Vittles has identified: "A rise in registered suicide deaths 2022-2023 across virtually every gender-age group, with the exception of women aged under 25 - this exception only because suicide rates among young women had been rising fastest in recent years & have not increased further this time." How sick & tired are you of seeing people losing all hope & deciding that not being here anymore is the solution?! It's time for a breakthrough in suicide prevention & on June 12th, you can decide (or not) to show up & say, we want to know what we should be doing as a society, a "Zero Suicide Society", to reduce the trend of losing 120 men, women & children to suicide every week in this country! On Wednesday, June 12th, in Scunthorpe -Yes, it's probably a long way for you to travel & I know that some of you down south have never heard of Scunthorpe & have no idea where it is - you can choose to attend one of the most influential suicide prevention conferences of 2024. The #ZeroSuicideSociety #JoinTheDots Tour launch conference features one of the most influential & diverse line up of speakers, panel members & performers you're likely to see at a single event & all for just £120! Here's one reason alone for you needing to be there: Alison Dunn is CEO of Citizens’ Advice Gateshead & knows about many of the causes & contributory factors for suicide, such as poverty or financial distress, relationship breakdown, housing stress & homelessness, unemployment, & the fact her home Region of the North East has a suicide rate twice that of London. Listen to Alison interview Paul Vittles on her podcast ‘This is the North’ to discuss these issues: https://lnkd.in/exsEvAys Critically, the day before recording the podcast, Alison witnessed a highly public suicide on her way to work, and her life changed forever that day. Why this conference? Because it launches the roll out of an alternative to the years of a failing Government National Suicide Prevention Strategy - year after year of strategies that for 16 of those years, following a period of steady decline, saw the numbers of suicides flatline and now, as many of us feared, numbers are increasing! Will you get on the train, a bus, jump in your car (maybe even get on a plane if you're overseas?) & travel to Scunthorpe on June 12th? If Alison's story isn't enough of a reason to attend, then check out the rest of the line up (still some incredible to add this week!): https://lnkd.in/ew6YZavx. See you there?!

Your business culture is not something you simply talk about, it's something you demonstrate with actions, like this company has. It must have been back in 2011, when I signed up to Teamwork.com, a project and task management platform. Cost efficient and easy to use, with a friendly support team, it was just what I needed to help me manage my consultancy practice and specifically, to ensure I didn't forget to do anything - imagine a much smarter and bigger to-do list!! Following my son's suicide in December 2019, I wound up my consultancy business but continued to use Teamwork.com to manage all projects and tasks relating to The Jordan Legacy CIC. Imagine my horror though, when at the end of 2023, I realised I'd been significantly overpaying for my monthly subscription fee to Teamwork.com for the past 2 years - the total was not just a few hundred pounds either! Now here's the story about culture. The accounting error was my fault entirely but I decided to message Teamwork's Founder and CEO, Peter Coppinger. I explained about the work we do in suicide prevention and why. I explained also how we rely solely on private donations for The Jordan Legacy to remain sustainable and how this overpayment had created a significant dent in our finances. I explained that the overpayments I'd been making were totally my fault but could he help? Peter's response was instant - the overpayment's were reimbursed immediately and to further support our cause, Teamwork.com would generously waive any fees for the next 12 months. A few weeks ago and out of the blue, I received an email from Noelle at Teamwork.com: "Our CEO has asked me to arrange a donation to the Jordan Legacy." - at the end of March, a £1000 donation had landed in our account! In Peter's initial response to my request for help, he simply said: "Of course we'll arrange the refund, you have enough on your plate to deal with without having to read countless emails from us". If culture is about doing what is right and doing so without fuss or delay and for the right reasons, then Peter Coppinger and his team at Teamwork.com have demonstrated the right culture in bucket loads. So this is a massive shout out to Teamwork.com, who had always helped make my life easier each day and then went one step further. 🙏