Raising funds for The Red Bench Project

The INSSA committee attended the 'I Love North Shields' event held today at the Salt Market Social in North Shields, to raise funds for our nominated charity of the day - The Red Bench Project.

They are a suicide prevention charity aiming to assist individuals who are struggling and may feel desperate, perhaps even contemplating ending their lives. They were established to demonstrate that help is available, making it easier for anyone to access support and make changes to pull people back from the edge of despair.

They have been placing benches in or near suicide hot-spots to give people the chance to sit and reflect, calm down and think, or even use their bench as a silent cry for help.

The Red Bench Project team believes that spending a moment on the bench can significantly impact the individual. They encourage people to approach and talk to someone sitting alone on the bench to check if they are okay, as a small act of interaction and kindness can help break the isolation and demonstrate that they are not alone, showing that people, even strangers, do care.

Thanks to the committee's excellent networking efforts and the support of attendees who purchased raffle tickets, bags of sweets, or made donations, we successfully raised £150, which was directly donated to The Red Bench Project.