In Scotland, the National Programme for Improving Mental Health and Well Being was developed to:

• Raise awareness and promote mental health and well being
• Eliminate stigma and discrimination
• Prevent suicide
• And promote and support recovery

Choose Life in the Western Isles was set up to implement the local action plan developed in response to this part of the national programme.

Information on Choose Life and information on the local action plan can be found on the National website www.chooselife.net.

Other programmes supporting the national programme are:

www.seemescotland.org
See Me is a poster campaign which addresses attitudes to people with mental health problems.

Breathing Space
Breathing Space is a free phone helpline which targets young men with depression. Counsellors are based in Glasgow and it has been widely publicised in Glasgow and the Highlands and Islands. It will eventually be promoted throughout Scotland.

Choose Life in the Western Isles is working locally to support the national target of a 20% reduction in suicide in Scotland by 2013.

Scotland currently has a significantly higher rate of suicide than other areas of the UK and Republic of Ireland.

13% of the general population report suicidal thoughts at sometime during their life.

During the past year, some key achievements for the choose life project include:

• Between January 2005 and December 2006, Choose life has provided funding to local organisations through the choose life small projects fund, to support them in maintaining and developing services in support of suicide prevention and improved mental wellbeing. Organisations which have benefited include Samaritans, Community care forum, Counselling and Family Mediation, the Samaritans, Depression Alliance Uist, The Bridge Project Uist, Stornoway Young Musicians (pictured below), The Carmel Community and WIAMH.





• We have worked with members of the Mental Health Partnership to map resources throughout the Western Isles of relevance to mental wellbeing and suicide prevention and in the development of a coordinated mental health training calendar.
  


• Publicised the importance of suicide prevention through the issue of guidelines on the reporting of mental health and suicide by the media and by maintaining awareness through features in the local press.
  


• During the period 2005 - 2006, the Choose Life project has held 13 workshops over the length and breadth of the Western Isles, and has trained up 235 people in the ASIST training. This has been delivered by 4 trainers, and we have recently added another ASIST trainer to our team. As part of the drive to create a suicide-safe community, courses have been run in Barra, Benbecula and Stornoway and have been very well received by participants from NHS Western Isles, Comhairle nan Eilean Siar, local voluntary groups and individuals.
  


• There has also been 4 Suicidetalk/Safetalk presentations held over the past year. This was supported by the work done during Suicide Prevention Awareness Week, held in September of each year where Choose Life has organised information presentations (keynote lecture on ‘Suicide and Rurality’), information packs on Choose Life, and stress workshops
  

The Choose Life initative has also been involved in a number of suicide prevention training approaches including -

STORM (Skills based Training on Risk Management)

ASIST (Applied suicide intervention skills training)

Mental Health First Aid

SuicideTALK

and Information presentations

Further information:
Please contact the Choose Life Coordinator: