Alex
Alex, aged 30, is a member of TAARC – Telford African & Afro-Caribbean Resource Centre – and is one of the charity’s Trustees. In October 2022, as part of a Health Inequalities Funded (HIF) project with Telford &
Wrekin Council’s Public Health, Alex took part in an Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training (‘ASIST’) course, especially arranged as part of a wider project tackling health inequalities in our Black and Asian communities.
The ASIST course was a two-day face-to-face workshop featuring powerful audio-visuals, discussions, and simulations in suicide first aid intervention, to teach trainees to recognise when someone may be having thoughts of suicide, how to talk to them and offer sources of local help and support.
At the time Alex found the course “fantastic”, with “excellent trainers”, and particularly found the statistics on suicide for Black and Asian communities – especially men – “absolutely mind boggling”.
Until the training Alex had been “absolutely unaware of how much of an issue mental health amongst ethnically diverse communities was” and says that when he completed the course he felt he had gained “real knowledge”. Alex adds:
“After the training I didn’t intend to go out looking for people intending suicide, but it was just good to get that knowledge under my belt”.
Brandon
Fast forward to January 2023, and Alex was coaching a 5-a-side community football team for TAARC, which also received funding through the HIF project. One of the members of the team was Brandon, a young man from Donnington, aged 25, who was usually a cheerful, smiling person.
In February that year, when Brandon hadn’t attended training for a few weeks, Alex reached out to him via calls and texts. Brandon did not respond, which worried Alex. After football one day Alex saw Brandon and stopped to chat with him, to see how he was.
Brandon was distraught and had been taking a walk to clear his mind because he was really struggling mentally and emotionally with some past
events in his life. During their conversation Brandon expressed thoughts of suicide, with details of his intentions. At first Alex’s reaction was shock, but he says that his “training then kicked in” and all the “knowledge, experience and awareness from the training flooded back” to him.
Making a connection
One of the things the training had taught Alex was to ‘connect’ with the mention of suicide. He focused on asking sensitive, open questions and discussing ideas of how to turn things around, making sure Brandon understood what his choices were. He listened to Brandon’s story, and gave him the support he needed.
Thanks to the training Alex was able to help Brandon identify a turning point – something for him to hold on to, and he gently introduced that into the conversation. Thankfully Brandon responded positively to this, so they went on to develop a ‘safe plan’ together for that moment, and an action plan for Brandon to work on independently, as Alex knew it wouldn’t be possible for him to be there for Brandon all the time.
Alex says that as he chatted to Brandon he “got to his level and really understood his story”, which helped him “to fully empathise and really feel his pain too”. While he naturally found this upsetting, the training helped him to keep his composure and speak to Brandon calmly, gaining his trust and enabling Brandon to open up.
Looking back, Alex says that when he initially started chatting to Brandon the ASIST training wasn’t on his mind, “but when the conversation with Brandon started to go that way then I knew ‘this is it’, and the training kicked in”. Alex also says that the little prompt cards given to him in the training – containing phrases and diagrams summarising key points – were a big help and he remembered them during his conversation with Brandon. He adds that “although I was pretty nervous at time, the training and the cards helped me focus”.
The action plan that Alex developed with Brandon included Brandon’s involvement with the community football team and running for his fitness and mind, which has led to great things for Brandon, TAARC and his local community – as you can see in the video below.
TAARC have since linked up with NHS Talking Therapies to extend the service to the local community as part of TAARC’s offer, and they hope to develop more mental health and wellbeing initiatives soon.
Alex’s message to everyone is that he “would really recommend everyone does the course – you never know when you’re going to need it. It really did save a life”.
Suicidal thoughts – what to do
Ring the SAMARITANS on Freephone 116 123 for immediate help and support.
There are a wide range of support services in Telford and Wrekin and the Live Well Directory brings all that advice and support into one place.