A woman who lost her 21-year-old cousin to suicide is distributing thousands of beer mats which help to spread a message of hope during a difficult time.
Holly Horsley, who lives in Roweltown, north of Carlisle, was dealt the awful news that her cousin Kyle Dilks had taken his own life on October 4 last year. He was just 21.
Despite being well known for his infectious smile and personality, he was fighting a silent battle with his mental health.
Spurred on by the tragic events Holly set out to start a campaign aimed at raising awareness of mental health with the aim of helping to prevent suicide. Holly had hoped to kickstart the campaign last year, but with the pandemic causing major disruption to the hospitality industry, she decided to hang fire.
Now, a year on from Kyle’s death, she has had 40,000 beer mats printed which will be distributed across the North East and Cumbria, the two areas of the country where Kyle had the most affiliation.
Holly is keen to raise as much money as possible to distribute as many beer mats as she can to bars, restaurants and other establishments across the two areas. Half of the mats printed include a QR code for Samaritans, this directs people to their website and the first thing you see is the 24-hour helpline and text service number.
The other half of the mats have the same design only they have a different QR code, this one is for a charity based in the North East called If U Care Share, which offers support to anyone who is feeling suicidal and also supports families dealing with the loss of a loved one to suicide.
Another 50,000 will be printed over the next few months.
“We are in the midst of the biggest mental health crisis in history and we need to do more to spread awareness and help guide people to the right places for support,” said Holly.
“If we can help one person then we need to do this. I launched a campaign to have mental health awareness slogans printed on beer mats and so far have raised over £6,000. The campaign was sadly put on hold due to the pandemic, work commitments and pubs and restaurants being closed but it is now time to get them out into the world. We can’t delay any longer.”
Many pubs, salons and restaurants in Cumbria are onboard but more businesses are needed to help spread the message as far as possible.
Mats will be given to participating businesses free of charge and were designed by Holly (AnjaDesign).
Any businesses interested in getting involved should email [email protected]
To donate to the campaign, click here.
Today is World Mental Health Day. There is plenty of support out there. Here are some links:
If you need to talk to someone urgently the Samaritans are available 24/7 on 116 123.
Mindline Cumbria offers support and guidance about mental health over the phone on 0300 561 0000 or text ‘Mind’ to 81066. You can also go online and chat to trained professionals.
Togetherall is a service offering free online support to anyone aged 16 and over, 24/7 you just need a Cumbrian postcode to register. It provides online peer-peer support, access to an anonymous community and lots of information, as well as courses and resources covering a range of mental health and wellbeing topics.
Kooth is a free online service for young people over 11.
Every Life Matters have produced a guide to looking after yourself and others. It contains practical information about things you can do now to look after your mental health and wellbeing, and how you can support others. Call 07908 537541.
If you are worried about someone you know and want to help support them it can be difficult to know the right thing to say or do. The Samaritans and Time to Change have information on their websites to help you start these conversations.
