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Pubs Supporting People – World Suicide Prevention Day Event at the Aldinga Hotel, South Australia
September 10 @ 6:00 pm - 7:30 pm
Free
In the coastal seaside suburb of Aldinga, South Australia, two new concepts in suicide prevention are currently being trialled by caring locals.
The GLASS EMPTY Suicide Prevention Signal (www.glassempty.org) is a way for people suffering with suicide distress to get the assistance they need when the words are too hard to say.
The simple signal – an upturned glass with a coaster on its base – indicates that one’s glass is empty, literally and metaphorically. And a conversation can help fill the cup, so to speak. They can show the signal to those in the pub or offer a GLASS EMPTY coaster to someone in the pub to start the conversation.
Supporting this initiative is a group of caring community members known as The Aldinga Whisperer Team (www.thewhispererteam.org). When someone presents with emotional distress at the local pub, the Aldinga Hotel or local brewery, “The Pub Whisperer”, that’s an empathetic bartender who is prepared to help, can assist with a quiet and confidential conversation to get them feeling safe again.
If the Pub Whisperer is too busy or unable to help, they can call on one of the six local community members, trained with suicide prevention skills, to come in for a conversation, and get the person in distress to safety.
These two world-first initiatives can be used around the country in pubs, bars, cafes, clubs and breweries and are designed to prevent suicide, with a community-supported approach to prevention.
Founder, Aldinga local Jonathan Hart, developed the concepts after experiencing suicide distress in 2014. “If it wasn’t for my Dad walking on the beach with me and just listening I might not be here,” says Mr Hart. “Without his care and concern during the toughest months of my life, I wouldn’t have made it through. He didn’t fix everything – he stayed close, reminded me I mattered, and helped me hold on. That connection made a difference.”
September is National Suicide Prevention Month, with World Suicide Prevention Day held on Wednesday, September 10.
To mark the date Jonathan will speak at a Pubs Supporting People event at Aldinga Hotel. Doors open 6pm for a 6.30pm start. He will be joined by Dan Ward from Project HYPE.
The public event is encouraging anyone with a mate they care for, or are concerned about, to attend.
