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ScotRail Alliance ‘Conversation Cafes’ to mark World Suicide Prevention Day

Posted: 10th September 2018

The ScotRail Alliance will mark World Suicide Prevention Day 2018 by offering support to customers on trains.

‘Conversation Cafes’ will see representatives from the Railway Mission, Samaritans, NHS24 Breathing Space and British Transport Police amongst other organisations, engaging and meeting with customers on train services next week.

The team behind these are small groups travelling around our network and engaging passengers in conversations about mental health issues; signposting them or their friends and family to someone they can talk to, in utter confidence, when they are feeling down.

In 2018 alone, there were seven suspected suicides, five attempted suicides and 22 life-saving interventions Scotland’s railway.

This year’s Conversation Cafés will be taking place from Monday 10 September (World Suicide Prevention Day) until Friday 14 September on the routes across Scotland, including Inverness, Glasgow, Edinburgh, North Berwick, Ayr, Dundee, Fife and Aberdeen.

Railway Mission Chaplain Graham Whitehead said:

“By offering a smile and a hello, as well as information about where customers can get professional support, we can make a huge different to people’s lives.

“If just one person who is going through a difficult time gets the help they need, then it will be worthwhile.”

ScotRail Alliance Safety Improvement Manager Sylvia Wilson said:

“We’re really pleased to be a part of such a great initiative. It’s important that our customers know what help and support is available to them.”

 

Business Comment

Business Comment is the Edinburgh Chamber of Commerce’s bi-monthly magazine. It provides insight on Edinburgh’s vibrant business community, with features on the city’s key sectors, interviews with leading figures and news on new business developments in the capital.
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