ChooseNews

July/August 2009

Welcome back to the Choose Life e-newsletter

As Choose Life's Programme Manager, it gives me great pleasure to welcome you back to the Choose Life e-newsletter, which has been rebranded and refreshed to reflect improvements to the national website. I hope you'll enjoy reading these newsletters which will be issued six times a year.

The newsletter continues to keep you up-to-date with the work of the national team over the past few months in the National Team Update, as well as share with you some of the fantastic work that has been going on in local areas. In this edition we hear from Inverclyde, North Lanarkshire and South Ayrshire about the partnership working which is helping to promote Choose Life locally and deliver suicide prevention messages to key audiences at risk, as well as those likely to be able to engage with people who may be feeling suicidal.

It has been a busy time here at Choose Life, with the annual ASIST Trainers' Conference in May, ASIST and safeTALK T4Ts and the launch of the national mental health strategy, Towards a Mentally Flourishing Scotland. We've also welcomed Tamara Mulherin to the team who will be providing the network with evaluation support, and I'm sure this will be much welcomed. You can get to know Tamara a bit better at the ' Talking with...' section.

We are really keen to keep people as informed as possible, so if you know of someone who may be interested in receiving this newsletter, please click the 'Tell a Friend' link at the bottom of this newsletter.

If you wish to contribute to the next issue, or have any comments on this one, please email us at info@chooselife.net

Best wishes
                        

CLICK ON EACH HEADLINE FOR THE FULL ARTICLE

Talking with... Tamara Mulherin

As the new Public Health Advisor support for Choose Life, Tamara Mulherin has hit the ground running and is already starting to plan for evaluation becoming part of everyday practice for local areas. Tamara caught up with us to speak about the benefits of evaluation, its importance for Choose Life and living in Eldorado... 

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Ayr County Show

Reaching people from isolated or rural areas is an important part of the Choose Life strategy, as the impact of physical isolation and the culture of self-reliance are thought to combat stress, anxiety and depression. Choose Life South Ayrshire was on hand at this year's Ayrshire Agricultural Show to provide members of the Agricultural community with information about suicide prevention, training and support.

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North Lanarkshire cabbies drive home the suicide prevention message

 

Taxi drivers in North Lanarkshire have donated their cabs' advertising space to raise awareness of suicide prevention in the local community

 

Choose Life supports Scottish National Depression Week

National Depression Week in Scotland took place from 17 to 24 June. Led by Depression Alliance Scotland, this year's campaign focused on depression in the later years. Supporting activities to promote Choose Life included national advertising in The Big Issue and a Tea Dance in Inverclyde, which raised £140 for the Inverclyde Elderly Forum.

Dailly exercise can be good for your mental health

Former Scotland and World Cup star Christian Dailly spoke about the benefits of exercise on mental wellbeing at the 2009 Men's Health Forum Scotland (MHFS) 10K, sponsored by Breathing Space.

Establishing a Scottish Suicide Database

Choose Life has released a progress report highlighting what steps have been taken so far in the establishment of a Scottish Suicide Database.

  Drug Related Deaths

The national Forum on Drug Related Deaths in Scotland has published it's Annual Report for 2008/09.