Baton of Hope: Calls for greater support as poignant events held in Leeds to mark World Suicide Prevention Day
There was an outpouring of love and support as dozens affected by suicide carried a baton through Leeds to raise awareness and pay respect to those who have been lost.
As part of the Baton Of Hope suicide prevention tour, 84 baton bearers who were all bereaved or have been affected by someone taking their own life carried the symbolic torch across a 24km trail of Leeds on World Suicide Prevention Day on Wednesday (September 10).
The poignant journey started in Bramley before heading through Armley and Holbeck and then into the city centre. The large crowd then headed eastwards to St James’s Hospital before finishing in Gipton at the Old Fire Station.
Among those taking part were Steve Phillip and Bairbre McKendrick, who exchanged the baton between them at the Moda exhibition space at New York Place near Leeds Playhouse theatre.
The two had both tragically lost a child to suicide and spoke about the devastating impact it had on them and the support that was available to them and others.
Mr Phillip, who is a co-founder of the Baton Of Hope, also gave a talk about suicide prevention at the exhibition space.
Mr Phillip set up The Jordan Legacy in light of his son’s death aged 34 in Horsforth in 2019 to “do whatever we can do to prevent preventable suicides”.
During his talk he said: “When we got the call our worlds were changed completed and nearly six years on the pain is still as raw.
“He was a cool guy amongst his friends. They said he would light up a room. He had everything going for him. I don’t think any of us knew the real struggle that was taking place.”
Mr Phillip met others in the sector and helped organise the Baton of Hope in 2021 as a way to build a national awareness campaign, with the first tour of 12 cities happening in 2023.
This year includes 20 locations and the first occasion the tour has come through Leeds, with Mr Phillip saying: “It’s been a great turnout. The following has been amazing.
“What’s important for me was carrying the baton in Leeds where Jordan lived. It was probably more emotional than I expected it to be when I handed it over.”
Asked what the key message of the campaign and the event was, Mr Phillip said: “I think it’s about opening a conversation and making people aware that suicide is a thing. Learning to have a conversation and knowing the signs that somebody is struggling and getting people comfortable to ask the difficult questions in the right way.
“The issue is stigma and it’s not an easy conversation to have but what I would recommend is getting educated.”
Mr Phillip also highlighted the increased rates of suicide as he called for greater collaboration between operators and for government intervention, adding: “It’s important that we say that we’re not going to accept this and that we can do something about it.
“We need, I think, a centralised suicide prevention office in government and more regional offices that feed in to that.”
The exhibition space also included a gallery of art work from Joshua Van Leader, who died by suicide in 2002, and the Yorkshire ‘Speak Their Name’ quilt, which features dozens of tributes from families
Among them is one from Ms McKendrick , whose 18-year-old daughter took her life on Christmas Day in 2023 to the despair of her and the small village community in Kirk Deighton near Wetherby.
She said she found the group “really supportive”, adding: “I think the action of making a square allows people to show how much that person meant to them.
“This is the first time I’ve seen it on the quilt so I feel part of the family now.”
Other events and activities to mark the day included musical and theatre performances, information stalls, a Mindful Employer network conference themed around suicide prevention in the workplace and a finale event for baton bearers and their supporters in the early evening.
The Leeds leg of the event was organised by the city council with help from mental health charities including Touchstone and Leeds Mind.