Papyrus is a national charity for the prevention of young suicide. Alongside campaigns to influence national policy, the charity delivers awareness and prevention training, work to empower young people to lead suicide prevention activities within communities, and confidential support and suicide intervention through HOPElineUK.
This year, Papyrus is one of our four National Student Survey charities and for every survey entered, we donate £1. We recently caught up with Papyrus to find out how your donations are being used to contribute towards their HOPElineUK service, which gives young people with thoughts of suicide or people who are concerned that a young person may be having these thoughts with somewhere to turn.
Below is an anonymised account of how the service is used and how Papyrus helps to keep young people safe from suicide:
Case study
Caller X rang the helpline to say he had left his house and had immediate plans to end his life. The HOPELineUK advisor listened to the caller and gave him a safe space to talk about his reasons for feeling suicidal. For the caller, these reasons were related to his employment and health. He disclosed that he had not shared how he was feeling with anyone as he felt like a burden. Indeed, he said he worried that others would consider him selfish.
The caller felt listened to by the advisor. He felt he was taken seriously regarding his thoughts and plans for suicide. He engaged with alternative options and eventually agreed to move away from his current location, where he was at risk. Following a number of safety plan suggestions from the HOPELineUK advisor, the caller agreed to seek help from both his GP and a close friend. He felt that this would keep him safe.
During the call, he expressed gratitude for the support he received from the HOPELineUK advisor. A few days later he sent HOPELineUK a message that said “Thank you for your helpline and text service. Without them I wouldn’t be here writing this today.”
Donate to Papyrus
If you are an undergraduate in your final year and would like to donate to our four National Student Survey Charities, including Papyrus, simply fill out the survey form on our webpage before entering the survey. The survey closes on Monday, 30 April 2018.
The four charities – which are the Liverpool Guild’s Key Charities for this year – are: Papyrus, Mencap Liverpool, Options for Supported Living, and The Whitechapel Centre