Do you need help? leaflet available online

In January 2020 Dawlish Town Council formed a mental health and suicide prevention working group. Over the past few months, it has been working on producing a leaflet on mental wellbeing and suicide prevention resources to be delivered to every household in the Parish. The leaflet is called “Do you need help?” and was published to coincide with World Mental Health Day on the 10th October 2020. It is now available online using the link to the leaflet below. The A5 leaflet can be printed double sided on A4 by selecting flip on the short edge in printer settings.

The leaflet is intended as a self-help tool, or if someone is concerned about someone else’s mental wellbeing, they can easily find out how to obtain help from professional and support organizations. A list of risk factors are included such as alcohol and drug misuse, bullying, domestic abuse and gambling), and helplines and websites where support can be found are identified. This leaflet is not a substitute for professional help, but aims to create awareness of mental health and suicide prevention, as something that can happen to anyone. It makes clear that asking for help is the first step to staying safe and identifies the people who care, who are ready to help in the different organizations listed.

The leaflet was being delivered to over 6,500 households with the help of Assist Teignbridge volunteers in October and early November.

Cllr Alison Foden, the Mayor of Dawlish said ”The leaflet is very timely as it has been a difficult period for all ages during the pandemic, with redundancies, unemployment, loneliness, grief, isolation, stress, anxiety and feelings of depression and suicidal thoughts about the future. The leaflet is part of the Town Council working towards making Dawlish a caring and safer town.”