A father whose son’s suicide led him to try and end his own life has called for suicide prevention training in every Scottish secondary school.
John Gibson’s 24-year-old son Cameron, who was a veterinary surgeon, died in October 2019.
John set up the Canmore Trust charity, which works with schools, colleges and universities to raise suicide awareness and prevention, in January 2022.
The Breaking the Silence training programme has been piloted for two years in Stirling and Clackmannanshire schools for S4 to S6 pupils.
John said Canmore is an anagram of Cameron and also reflects the charity’s belief that they “can (do) more” to prevent suicides among young people.
He said: “There is nothing inevitable about suicide, that’s the thing that I have to stress.
“People find themselves on a pathway and a tragedy and (think) there is only one end point to this, and that is not true.
“At any point, if you were to seek help or someone were to cut across your path and say “are you ok, can i help you today?”, these moments of kindness can be life-changing, literally life-transforming for people.”
John Gibson set up the Canmore Trust in 2022 [BBC]
John said Cameron’s death was the “most impactful thing I have experienced, or possibly could ever experience.”
He said: “He went off and picked up a friend, they walked a hill together, they went to an art class together, they went out to see friends together and said goodnight.
“And then an hour later, Cameron was dead.”
The following June, when Father’s Day and Cameron’s birthday fell just days apart, John tried to take his own life.
He said: “It was such a difficult time because I had Malcolm and Eilidh – my other son and daughter – Isobel my wife, all clearly facing their own challenges around Cameron’s death.
“We were working together so closely, pulling each other through this, and I see it as a set of scales, the weight of responsibility to these three other amazing people was strangely outweighed by the extent of grief I had with Cameron.”
John received four months of psychiatric care and went on to establish the Canmore Trust.
Around 200 under-16s lose their lives to suicide in the UK every year.
The Breaking the Silence programme was created by fellow charity Grassroots Suicide Prevention in conjunction with Liverpool John Moores University.
It helps young people identify signs of suicidal thoughts in their peers and provides guidance on how to respond.
The programme of three lessons uses a video about two school pupils, one of whom is experiencing suicidal thoughts, to engage the students in interactive activities and discussion.
Its main purpose is to open up conversations about mental health and suicide.
The training programme was initially piloted in McLaren High School in Callander and Wallace High School in Stirling.
John said: “Stirlingshire schools have picked this up quite nicely and we’re now into Clackmannanshire.
“Some private schools have also asked us to be involved which is good, too.”
John said the reaction to the programme had been positive “without exception.”
He said: “We have people who contact us in the days and weeks after a presentation to say “you’ve caused me to realise where I’m at and I want to talk””.
John said he had been contacted by the initially-sceptical mother of two children, days after they had received the training.
She said her son had come to her after being “empowered” by the training to tell her he “did not want to be here anymore.”
John said: “So she was able to open up that conversation, they got an urgent GP appointment and he was taken to a place of security and support for himself, and he got through his suicidal crisis.
“And we have any number of these stories.”
Pupils at Alva Academy in Clackmannanshire have undergone the training [BBC]
Pupils at Alva Academy in Clackmannanshire have recently undergone the training.
One S4 pupil, called James, said: “I think it’s very important, because if a situation comes up where you actually need to ask someone who’s thinking about suicide and you don’t know what to say in order to comfort them.
“As a younger generation we need to talk about it more, it’s not spoken about nearly as much as it should be.”
Pupil Ruari said: “A lot of people need to understand what other people are thinking and if they see changes in their personality to ask them what’s happening, and just speak about it and not just stay quiet.
“I think it is important to share your feelings as men and boys because there’s a stigma that boys don’t have feelings about this kind of stuff, but they do.”
Jess said: “I feel like we can notice the signs in people and have the confidence in ourselves to actually speak to them and not shy away.
“I feel like it’s important to learn stuff like this because if their friends change they won’t know what to say or won’t have the confidence to say it.”
Pupil support teacher Lucy Skelton described the new training as a “huge benefit” [BBC]
Pupil support teacher Lucy Skelton was 11 when her father took his own life.
She said: “Going through secondary school myself with very little support, we’re talking 20 years ago, now to be able to come into a school and provide young people with the tools that would have been really helpful for myself.
“It is a huge benefit.”
John is now pushing to have the training rolled out to every secondary school.
He said: “We’re asking for a strength of leadership to say there is an evidence base to this, this is the appropriate next step for us, and we want to have that within every secondary school.
“We need to say this is an important piece of work.
“We need to equip schools, we need to equip teachers, we need to equip young people so this is a natural conversation that’s being had.”
‘Heartfelt sympathies’
The Scottish government said that it was for individual schools and councils to determine what approaches they use, and what external partnerships they build, to “help them deliver relevant and engaging learning.”
A spokesperson said: “Every suicide death is a tragedy, and our heartfelt sympathies go out to all those affected.
“Our aim is for anyone at risk or affected by suicide to get the help they need.
“While Scotland’s curriculum isn’t mandatory, schools can and do discuss these topics through Personal and Social Education lessons, and Education Scotland has already provided national resources to schools on suicide prevention.”
The spokesperson added that the government’s professional learning resource on supporting children and young people’s mental health, which includes learning on suicide and self-harm, is free and available to all school staff.
They added: “The Education Secretary recently met with the campaign group, 3 Dads Walking, and has asked Education Scotland to consider suicide prevention in schools as part of reforms to the curriculum, which are being led by Scotland’s teachers.”
If you are affected by any of the issues raised in this story, support and advice is available via BBC Action Line.
