It’s on us | Safaplace

09:45

Talk

Introduction

Michael Collins

Chair of Safaplace and Assistant Headteacher at Stoke Newington School

More info

10:00

Keynote

Sam Delaney

Journalist, broadcaster and author

More info

10:30

Workshops

Talk: Ways to communicate and connect with teenagers

Dr. Helen Sharples and Rachel Lee Jones

Clinical Psychologists

More info

Rethinking Eating Disorders – Recovery Needs a Hero Like You

Deborah Watson

Wednesday’s Child

Debbie Watson

Wednesday’s Child

Navigating Neurodivergence: Supporting Children's Mental Health and Well-being

Siobhan Moore-Lynch

Learning and Development advisor for an international NGO

Tara Hancock: Sport Against Suicide in conversation with Rose White

Tara Hancock

Sport Against Suicide

More info

Empowering young people at school and at home – a talk by author Margaret Rooke

Margaret Rooke

Author of Dyslexia is My Superpower

A presentation from George Sullivan and Tanya Marwaha from Baton of Hope

George Sullivan and Tanya Marwaha

Baton of Hope

More info

12:30

Concluding remarks

Final words

Rose White and Sarah Finke

Safaplace Co-founders

Michael Collins

Chair of Safaplace and Assistant Headteacher at Stoke Newington School

Michael Collins is Chair of Safaplace and Assistant Headteacher at Stoke Newington School. He is Designated Safeguarding Lead and Mental Health Lead with responsibility for attendance.

Introduction

Sam Delaney

Journalist, broadcaster and author

Sam Delaney is a journalist, broadcaster and author of ‘Sort Your Head Out – Mental Health Without All The Bollocks’.

He regularly talks and writes about issues surrounding mental health and addiction and consults with businesses on how to improve mental health conversations among employees.

Sam has written for everyone from The Guardian, Observer, Independent and Daily Telegraph to the NME, Q, Grazia, Cosmopolitan and the New Statesman. He was editor-in-chief of Heat magazine and then editor-in-chief of Comedy Central UK. He has hosted numerous shows on BBC 5Live, BBC London and talkSPORT and presented documentaries for BBC Three and Channel 4.

Dr. Helen Sharples and Rachel Lee Jones

Clinical Psychologists

A talk by Dr. Helen Sharples and Rachel Lee Jones, Clinical Psychologists with experience of working in CAMHS (Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services) and schools.

Talk: Ways to communicate and connect with teenagers

After a presentation, if times allows, there will be an opportunity to ask questions about good communication with troubled teenagers.

Tara Hancock

Sport Against Suicide

Tara Hancock founded Sport Against Suicide (SAS) in 2019 after her own experience of suicide intent and having found hope and connectedness through a chance encounter with a football match which changed her direction in an instance, and helped her to reach out for help. Later finding her love for the game, specifically Tottenham Hotspur, she decided to create a non-profit that would initially teach young academy sports scholars and grassroots athletes the importance of mental health and suicide awareness. Her aim was to prevent suicidal intent and cut suicide statistics in the future. Although predominantly working within football, she decided that SAS would also work within the community using football as a platform to connect with others and help them to build confidence and increase their self-esteem while providing emotional support services to those who may need a safe space to talk.

Tara Hancock: Sport Against Suicide in conversation with Rose White

George Sullivan and Tanya Marwaha

Baton of Hope

George Sullivan had suicidal tendencies from the age of 14, but felt unable to discuss his troubles due to his environment and society as a whole. Despite going on to achieve a soccer and academic scholarship at an American college, and then achieving First Class Honours at a UK university, George narrowly survived a suicide attempt during his final year. This had long-lasting physical and mental affects, eventually resulting in his admission to hospital for suicidal risk, where he was diangosed with Depression, PTSD and Borderline Personality Disorder. Upon his discharge, he received five months of private psychotherapy to help process the trauma and manage depression.

Inspired by his experiences, George started the podcast Sully’s Open Conversation in 2022, a mental health talk show aiming to normalise discussing mental health and breaking down the surrounding stigma. Since then, he has been a public speaker for both workplaces and schools on the importance of suicide prevention through his lived experience. In November 2022 George was appointed to the Organising Committee for Baton of Hope, which will hopefully become the largest suicide prevention initiative the UK has seen. This year, he was also made Director at Optimal Minds, a psychological strategy business consultancy, preparing to launch their emotional intelligence and self-awareness development programmes to help create safe and supportive work environments.

Tanya Marwaha pioneers youth mental wellbeing awareness – she is the founder of a youth-led peer community Championing Youth Minds, which supports 800 young people globally. She has lived with depression from a young age, and has experienced suicidal crisis and loss herself, after being diagnosed with long-term disabilities, Fibromyalgia and Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome. Navigating mental health support in the South Asian community has been a challenge, so she advocates for mental health education and suicide prevention to recognise the intersectionality of identity and cultural factors.

A presentation from George Sullivan and Tanya Marwaha from Baton of Hope

Baton of Hope UK is a charity that is designed to be one of the largest suicide awareness and prevention initiatives the UK has ever seen. They have collated experts, professionals and those with lived experience to develop Workplace and Educational Charters for suicide prevention in the respective environments, in which we all have the ability to help save a life, and to help raise awareness and develop processes to prevent suicide.

They are also one of the only charities to ever individually approach all 650 Westminster MPs, having engaged and actively receiving support from nearly 100. This is to ensure that our presence is known and when discussing changes in policy and laws surrounding suicide prevention, that we are best placed to do so. Their tour – the inaugural Baton of Hope tour – will begin on the 25th June, and over a two-week period, it will visit 12 major UK cities, hosting events that celebrate life and hope, shining a light on suicide awareness and prevention. The tour culminates in London where they hope to reside the Baton where it is visible to politicians on a daily basis and a reminder of the need for change and increase in resources to prevent suicide.

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