BREAKING THE SILENCE

“A Cobh based group with the aim to listen, educate &

support the community on suicide”

What is the background to the programme?

The Peer Support Education Program is a five-week community based programme that has been delivered in the last couple of years to four groups of young people in East Cork who wished to learn skills that would enable them to listen and find the appropriate support services for their peers who may be experiencing difficulties and displaying suicidal ideation.  The need for the program came about due to the fact that in the last few years there have been a considerable number of suicides of young people in the East Cork area. Some of the young people who had friends or family members who committed suicide felt there was nothing being done to address the problem. The young people felt they needed information and skills to be able to assist any of their peers that may be in need of help and support. They felt that young people would talk to each other first, before approaching any professional services on offer in the region. Thus through participation on this program the young people improve their listening and communication skills, and learn how to assist someone in getting the appropriate support or intervention if they are suicidal. The young people feel empowered to make a difference in the lives of others who may be experiencing any kind of difficulty and in need of support.

As a result of hard work and the overwhelming support of the community, Breaking The Silence can now offer the community the following.

• Peer support education Programme; targets transition year students and youths. It involves five 2 hr work groups, with the aim of creating self awareness around suicide and mental help, and helps recognise signs in their own peer group.
• Safe Talk; targets 17 yrs plus in the general community and involves a three and a half hour talk which helps to train members to recognise a person with thoughts of suicide and to connect them to a suicide prevention resource, i.e. a Doctor/Counsellor, family member or a trained volunteer in any of the above.
• ASSIST; 18 years upwards. This involves a two day work-shop course in suicide first-aid. These three courses leads to a suicide safer community

Anyone interested in participating in any of the above courses, should contact Breaking The Silence via the following email address This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it