00:11On the 4th of August 2015, my life changed forever, when my 28-year-old son, Paul, took
00:19his own life after suffering a bout of severe depression.
00:24After his funeral, I was left feeling totally alone, weak, vulnerable and lost.
00:30I went from being the man who had everything to an empty shell of my former self.
00:36On top of trying to deal with the complete devastation that losing a child to suicide
00:40brings, I was off work on long term sick leave and as a result, found myself at the mercy
00:47of the DWP.
00:49The pressure of having to fill in lengthy forms, have face to face and telephone conversations,
00:55constantly reliving the events of what happened, was overbearing.
01:00It was almost impossible to deal with and not a day went by where I did not want to take
01:05the same route and join him, as the pain I was carrying was so intense.
01:10Our daughter Claire knew we needed help and reached out to a local charity, Beacon Counselling
01:16Trust.
01:17To see if they could offer us support, our case was picked up by Cathy Devlin, who had
01:23also lost her brother to suicide that same day, 23 years earlier.
01:28When speaking with Cathy, her sense of empathy and her lived experience with suicide was so
01:34apparent. Thankfully, she offered my wife and I free one-to-one counselling.
01:40We had reservations at first, but it proved to be a godsend to us.
01:44It was the lifeline we desperately needed and without it, I dread to think where we would
01:49be today.
01:51Two years later, to mark Paul's 30th birthday, a very good friend organised a fundraising night,
01:57which resulted in us donating £2,000 to Beacon as a thank you for the help and support we
02:04had been given.
02:05Shortly after, Cathy asked us if we would consider taking an active part in the formation of a
02:11free suicide bereavement counselling service, and we accepted without hesitation.
02:16We agreed in naming it Paul's Place, in memory of Cathy's brother, Paul Jensen, and our son,
02:22Paul Williams. To have the service up and running by October 2017, we had just eight months to
02:30achieve the goal of raising £40,000. Our belief was that this amount would enable us
02:36to offer the service to 40 people, and thanks to a lot of hard work, we reached our fundraising
02:41target and the service was launched. By October 2018, we had provided our unique service to
02:4978 people, helping them in their darkest times and getting them through to the other side.
02:55Our important fundraising work continued more than ever, in order to help fund the project,
03:01relying on donations, fundraising events and charitable grants.
03:07In July 2019, we received some amazing news. The National Lottery Community Fund awarded us
03:14a grant of almost £338,000 for a three-year period. This has been life-changing in allowing us to
03:22reach
03:22out to people across the Merseyside area, spreading the message of the vitally important work we do.
03:28Our belief is that even when people contact us for help and support, they should receive it right away,
03:34not be placed on lengthy waiting lists. We offer up to 20 free one-to-one counselling sessions,
03:40alongside essential peer support, which is available at our weekly and monthly group meetings.
03:49There were 5,691 deaths by suicide in the UK, with each one costing society £1.7 million.
04:01Those bereaved by suicide are up to 300% more likely to attempt or complete suicide themselves.
04:10Using a figure of 30 people affected by each suicide equates to over 170,000 people in need of crucial
04:20help and support.
04:26We strongly believe there should be a Paul's Place in every city throughout the country,
04:31offering this life-saving service free of charge. In a nutshell, the support that Paul's Place provides
04:37is suicide prevention for the next generation. It won't change the past, and it won't make the
04:43personal pain go away. But it can change somebody else's future, and save someone else's life, as it did for
04:50me.
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