On Saturday 5 September I was lucky enough to be able to represent Legend on the Bench at the ‘Suicide Awareness, Let’s Talk’ (SALT) festival in Portsmouth. This was the 4th year this festival (previously known as ‘Let’s Talk Suicide’) has taken place. It was founded by Sarah Mitas, who tragically lost her father, Richard Dobson, to suicide when she was just 13 years old, and the festival was born out of a desire to make his life count for something meaningful.
The format of the event was a combination of physical activities, wellbeing workshops and creative arts and a wide range of mental health support charities such as Mental Health Motorbikes and Survivors of Bereavement by Suicide (SOBS) had stalls around the venue. The first thing that struck me was how busy it was and how many families there were at the event. Throughout the day there was a steady stream of people visiting the stall and talking about their own experience of mental health including, sadly, how suicide had affected their family. Most of the people I spoke to hadn’t heard of Legend on the Bench but everyone seemed genuinely interested in the idea and agreed that it was a really worthwhile initiative. Several people also mentioned they were going to look into having a bench installed in their area.
Overall, the day felt really positive, and my lasting impression was how many people I’d seen talking openly to people they’d only just met about their mental health and the mutual support that came from that.
Darren Fearnley