A Wonderful day in Kent Unveiling 4 of our Suicide Prevention Benches, Our Second Unveiling of the day.
MOTE PARK, MAIDSTONE, ANOTHER BENCH, ANOTHER MESSAGE OF HOPE 💙
Today has been another incredible day for Legend on the Bench, with four Suicide Prevention Benches being unveiled across Kent, on the Isle of Sheppey, in Maidstone, Canterbury and Whitstable.
Our second unveiling of the day took us to the absolutely stunning Mote Park in Maidstone.
What a beautiful setting for a bench that carries such an important message.
As always, the speeches were at the heart of the day. They were touching, honest and incredibly genuine, with people speaking openly about their feelings, mental health and the importance of making sure that nobody feels they have to face their darkest moments alone.
We were honoured to hear from Brian Clark, Mayor of Maidstone, Rob Field, local councillor for Maidstone, and Emily Cowan-Knott from the Suicide Prevention Team at Kent County Council.
Three very different voices, but all speaking with the same understanding, that we have to keep talking, keep listening and keep breaking down the stigma that still surrounds mental health and suicide.
A huge thank you to Mayor Brian Clark for giving up his own time to come and share this very special moment with us. Your words were beautiful, and your support meant so much to everyone.
And thank you to Rob Field, who spoke with such calmness and reassurance about mental health and suicide. Sometimes the simplest words, spoken from the heart, can have the greatest impact.
A very special thank you too to Emily Cowan-Knott from Kent County Council’s Suicide Prevention Team. Emily spoke so beautifully about removing the stigma and, most importantly, making sure people can find support at the moment they need it most.
Then came the unveiling.
And for me, no matter how many times we do this, that moment never gets easier to put into words.
As the cover comes away and you see another Suicide Prevention Bench standing there, the feelings just rush through you, pride, emotion, sadness, hope, all at the same time.
You think about why we are doing this. You think about the families who have lost someone they love. You think about the people who may one day sit on that bench when life feels overwhelming. And you hope that somehow, that simple bench might become the place where someone stops, takes a breath, talks to somebody, or simply realises that they are not alone.
A massive thank you must go to Maria Howden, Ray Berry and East Kent Spurs, who raised an incredible £28,000 to help fund Suicide Prevention Benches across Kent.
What these amazing people have done goes far beyond raising money. They have helped turn compassion into something real, something that will sit in communities, in parks and public spaces, quietly reminding people that there is always someone willing to listen.
Their generosity will leave a lasting legacy, and I honestly cannot thank them enough. You have helped create places of hope that could one day make the difference between someone feeling completely alone and someone finding the strength to take that next step. 💙🙏
And that, really, is what Legend on the Bench is all about.
We cannot change the past. We cannot bring back the people we have lost. But we can try to change what happens tomorrow. We can talk, we can listen, we can look out for one another. And we can keep putting these benches in places where people can stop, sit down and know that their life matters.
Four benches across Kent today. Four more messages of hope. And another day where so many people came together for one simple reason, to help save lives.
The journey continues.
One bench at a time.
One conversation at a time.
One life at a time. 💙🙏
Legend on the Bench…..where there’s hope, there’s a way. 🙏