Ógra Shinn Féin to hold Suicide Prevention Course

To coincide with World Suicide Prevention Day on September 10^th, Ógra Shinn Féin are organising a suicide prevention course, which will take place in Enniskillen on Saturday 11^th September. The course, which is being part funded by Enniskillen Youth Bank, will run from 10am - 4pm and a buffet lunch will be provided. There is no charge to take part in the course, but numbers are strictly limited.

Speaking on the Suicide Prevention Programme, which is to be delivered by PIPS, a Belfast based charity, event organiser, Phil Flanagan said:

"Suicide is the biggest killer of young people in Ireland, and has caused enormous grief on families and communities. Ógra Shinn Féin have been pro-actively working on Suicide Prevention and Awareness over the last number of years; organising public meetings, vigils, leaflet drops, meeting with ministers responsible for funding and also attempting to empower people to work on suicide prevention by hosting suicide prevention courses in different venues across Ireland.

"This course is aimed at ordinary members of the community because suicide can affect us all and suicide prevention should be everyone's business. With local people trained to be more aware of the risk of suicide and the sources of help available, our communities will be safer. The training will provide a better understanding of suicide and it's impact on our society, as well as giving participants the skills to prevent suicide and the knowledge of who is at a higher risk of suicide.

"This is the first time the course has been offered in Fermanagh, and the PIPS programme will equip people with the necessary experience to act as a care giver to anyone who is in danger of taking their own life; the more people trained in PIPS, the more people can have a positive impact on Suicide Prevention. This is an issue that we all need to tackle collectively, and the PIPS programme is open to everyone and is completely free of charge. However as spaces are limited, I would encourage anyone interested in taking part to contact me ASAP on 07985955555 or phil.flanagan@sinn-fein.ie"