A national initiative to raise suicide awareness has shone a torch on Torbay - leaving a message of hope in its trail.
The Baton of Hope is the UK’s largest suicide prevention event, with Torbay the only area in the South West chosen to host a one-day leg of the tour, which saw the baton relayed around the Bay in Olympic torch style.
The tour on Tuesday began with an opening ceremony at 7am at the Banjo on
Torquay seafront, with singing from the Rock Choir.
Baton of Hope UK co-founder Mike McCarthy, who lost his son to suicide, addressed the crowd with an emotive and engaging welcome followed by mayor Barbra Lewis.
Local resident Chris Hallet took the first leg, walking the baton to the end of the pier before passing it on.
Chris, who lost his father to suicide when he was 13 years old, said: “For me, it’s important to be a baton bearer, but being first, second, 15th, 90th, it doesn’t matter. Everyone carrying the baton has got their story, whether it’s themselves that have struggled with mental health or whether they’ve been affected by someone they’ve lost through suicide. It’s such a powerful thing to do to share the message.”
Patrick the pony and owner Kirk Petrakis carried the baton along the promenade before the tour made its way into town and on to a special reception of business and community leaders at the Lyceum Theatre.
Torbay Council chief executive and baton bearer Anne-Marie Bond took to the stage to describe the day as a ‘profoundly important moment.’
“It is a day to spread hope,” she said. “We stand together to remember and act.”
Suicide survivors and those bereaved by suicide have been offered the chance to help carry the baton in honour of their own journey or in memory of a loved one lost.
Anne-Marie said more than 100 residents had applied to be a baton bearer.
“Our community has responded to the call for action,” she said. “It is a strong testament to community spirit. Let this day be a turning point.”
Torbay public health director Lincoln Sargeant praised the Torbay Suicide Prevention Partnership and the Torbay Council and health teams for staging the event.
He said the day was about ‘acknowledging the impact of suicide’ and remembering those whose lives had been lost.
He said suicide was a ‘painful way to lose someone’ and carried a stigma with it.
“But today we can celebrate the people we lost,” said Lincoln.
He told MPs, local politicians and community leaders: “The options for hope are in our hands. Today is about reclaiming the memory of those we have lost.”
Event lead Rachel Brett said there were 20 suicides annually in the Bay and 2,700 people had been impacted.
She said the campaign to raise awareness was gaining momentum, including engagement with businesses and recognition nationally.
She said the Baton of Hope was also having an impact locally with 500 locals having signed the Torbay Pledge calling for mental illness to be treated with the same seriousness as physical health.
Rachel added: “I want to open up a conversation with the community, so I want people to ask people how they are, and then I’d really like people to ask again how they really are, because I think that’s the bit that we miss.
“We’re very British and we’re very stoic and we don’t talk about mental health, but everybody has it. It goes up and down. It’s a thing that probably connects all of us, and the minute we can have conversations and listen, that’s when we can make differences.”
Torbay mum Karen lost her daughter to suicide five years ago.
She told the audience: “I will never be able to bring her back, but I can do little things and raise awareness and that’s what I’m doing.”
Baton of Hope co-founder Mike also took to the stage. He revealed how his son had taken his own life, suffering depression at the age of just 31.
He said: “My beautiful, kind, loving son was gone.”
But he said he and others touched by suicide wanted ‘to remember not how they died but how they lived.”
He said the initiative was ‘not about death and despair — it was about life and hope.’
He said his son had suffered severe depression for 10 years. He was put on a six-month NHS waiting list but died two weeks into the wait. Suicide, he added, was a ‘societal catastrophe’, and successive governments had treated mental health with ‘woeful neglect’.
“When it comes to saving lives through suicide prevention, we mean business,” he went on. “Enough is enough. Spreading awareness is central but only if it prompts practical change and action. No-one is immune from suicide. It’s everyone’s business.”
His message to anybody struggling with mental health was: “You are not alone. The Baton of Hope stands with you.”
The baton walking route went through Torquay, Paignton and Brixham and featured events and activities along the way, at different locations in each town, before culminating in a final celebration event with entertainment for all at the Riviera International Conference Centre.
Local hero and X Factor finalist Luke Friend was due to join comedians Marcus Brigstocke and David Arnold, along with variety artiste Ada Campe, for the gala fundraising event to finish the day.
A live screen in Princess Gardens relayed the event to spectators, while wellbeing events and activities were taking place throughout the day in Paignton and Brixham.
The baton was making the journey from Paignton to Churston by steam train, and then crossing back to Torquay on board the bay’s RNLI lifeboat.
“We have all got the power to listen, and we have all got the power to save lives,” said Mr McCarthy as the relay began.
Credit: miraclePR.com for all imagery.
