Faith Leaders

I recently attended the PABBS training in Oldham for Pennine NHS Foundation Trust.

As a Church of England Chaplain, I thought I was prepared and thought I had some knowledge about dealing with ‘bereaved after suicide.’ This course just re-iterated what a very complex situation this is. It has offered me time to think about how I can change my attitude and skills in dealing with this very sensitive time. I wish I had some of this valuable information before I had to support two families who had lost children to suicide. I cannot recommend the course enough, the trainers and the course content are excellent….Hopefully this situation wont be a common occurrence but if it happens again I feel so much more equipped to support family friends and colleaugues and of course to look after myself.

The fact that both trainers bring their lived experience of how suicide affected them and their families made it easier for me to talk about my experience. I found the training very informative and it raised many questions for me. Coming from an ethnic minority community in Scotland we are as a community still not in a place where the issue of Suicide is discussed or even acknowledged. It also highlighted how much this kind training is needed for grassroots organisations that work with ethnic communities. I was only able to access this training through Edinburgh University Chaplaincy who funded the training.