A Belfast mental health charity is inviting those who have lost loved ones to suicide to join them through a special remembrance wall.
The Wall of Hope outside West Wellbeing in the Colin community, has a sea of family photos and personal messages attached to it. Launching this week, on the lead up to World Suicide Prevention Day, those who have been plunged into grief through suicide, came together to spread a message of hope.
Johanna Skillen has recently become heavily involved with West Wellbeing, and is working towards becoming a full qualified counsellor. The West Belfast woman knows only too well the impact that mental health can have on a family, having lost both her sister Stacie and brother Danny to suicide.
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Speaking to Belfast Live, she said: "Stacie was 21-year-old when she died. She was the third youngest in my family. I know people say this all the time, but when she walked into a room, you knew she was there.
"Her character, she was so funny and people always looked forward to seeing her and doing things with her. Stacie loved her family so much and would have done anything for them.
"Because she was so outgoing and confident, she was ashamed and embarrassed to speak about what was going on behind closed doors.
"The Wall of Hope to me does mean hope. I am at a different stage of my grief, I have been through it all - depression and paranoia. Even today when people talk about Stacie to me, they will whisper when they say the word 'suicide'. I don't think it is something to whisper about, people shouldn't be afraid to say it, and I hope people will start talking about it more.
"My brother Danny died seven years ago. He had graduated with an Honours Degree from Queen's University on the Wednesday and he took his own life. He was being bullied online. He was very quiet and was more into his studying than anything.
"He was a really kind, and like Stacie, just loved his family. You don't see it, the pain they are going through. When people hide it, it can be very hard."
West Wellbeing's Wall of Hope will remain open for anyone to come to for the next week. On Saturday they will embark on a 'Walk of Hope' from the Dairyfarm Shopping Centre, to Colin Connect between 6:30pm and 9pm.
The Colin Connect building will be illuminated in yellow, and those attending are also asked to wear yellow, to raise awareness for World Suicide Prevention Day 2022.
Johanna added: "We came up with the idea to have something where people could come up and remember their loved ones, their photographs and stories. I think that sometimes, when someone dies by suicide, that is what they can be remembered for. We wanted to have the Wall of Hope so that people could be remembered for who they were.
"A woman came up and put a photograph of her husband on the wall, and wrote 'the biggest eejit I have ever met' because that's her memories of him. Now I know the wall isn't for everyone, we know that people think of their loved ones every day, but this wall is just for those who want to come up to West Wellbeing and add to it.
On Wednesday, people were walking past and noticing the wall, and then talking to us about their own mental health. They hadn't lost anybody but they were opening up about things that they had experienced. And that's what it is all about."
To find out how you can help West Wellbeing or how they can help you please go to their social media here.
*For anyone in distress or despair, contact Lifeline on 0808 808 8000 or visit www.lifelinehelpline.info
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