\n Data released by the Office for National Statistics earlier this month revealed that Cumberland’s suicide rate per capita is 19.4, this is almost twice the national average of 10.9.\n<\/p>\n
\n Westmorland & Furness also had a higher suicide rate than the national average during that period, 14.8 per cent per capita.\n<\/p>\n
\n The former Yewdale Ward at West Cumberland Hospital in Whitehaven(Image: Newsquest)\n<\/p>\n
\n Chris Young, from Cleator Moor, who is a passionate campaigner for mental health<\/a> said: “It just shows how much need there is for more investment and more to be done in the county.\n<\/p>\n \n “The closure of Yewdale ward is nothing short of shambolic. The only thing we should be doing is increasing our services, we shouldn’t be reducing them.”\n<\/p>\n \n Yewdale Ward was an adult inpatient mental health unit based at West Cumberland Hospital.\n<\/p>\n \n The NHS trust responsible for the ward had struggled historically to recruit enough trained staff, resulting in restricted levels of service.\n<\/p>\n \n Following a consultation period, Cumbria Northumberland Tyne and Wear NHS Foundation Trust (CNTW) relocated the service to new inpatient beds at the Carleton Clinic in Carlisle.\n<\/p>\n \n The trust has said this “enables us to deliver care to a higher standard, in a more suitable environment.”\n<\/p>\n \n But Chris said: “To be losing facilities and losing access, it’s quite worrying and dangerous to be honest.”\n<\/p>\n \n \n Chris was a participant in the Baton of Hope’s journey across Cumbria in September. The baton, crafted by the King’s official jeweller was carried from Cleator Moor to Carlisle to raise awareness of suicide.\n<\/p>\n \n It was a moving moment for Chris who has faced his own struggles with mental health as well as neurodivergence.\n<\/p>\n \n Chris has also raised funds for a number of worthy causes, including Hospice at Home West Cumbria<\/a> and wants to give hope to others who experience the same challenges.\n<\/p>\n \n He said: “The reason I do it is to try and show people you can go on to achieve things.”\n<\/p>\n \n However, he called for strategic action on mental health and suicide figures across the country.\n<\/p>\n \n He added that the suicide rate is “something that needs addressed, not just in Cumbria but nationwide.”\n<\/p>\n \n \n A spokesperson for CNTW said: “We are committed to providing safe, effective, high-quality care for everyone who needs our support.\n<\/p>\n \n The trust said it is “working hard, alongside other organisations, to make sure people in West Cumbria can get the right help and support as early as possible, in the heart of their community.\n<\/p>\n \n \u00a0\u201cA major part of this work is our involvement with Hope Haven<\/a> in Whitehaven.”\n<\/p>\n \n The community mental health and wellbeing service on King Street in Whitehaven is one of six \u2018neighbourhood mental health centres\u2019 nationally, providing wellbeing activities; drop-ins; one-to-one support and short-stay accommodation for people in crisis.\n<\/p>\n \n The spokesperson said the support “is already making a real difference to the lives of people in Whitehaven and Copeland.”\n<\/p>\n \n Hope Haven will fully open by the end of 2025, offering walk-in support every day.\n<\/p>\n \n Anyone struggling with suicidal thoughts can contact the Samaritans for support, day or night, 365 days a year. You can call them for free on 116 123, email them at jo@samaritans.org<\/a>, or visit www.samaritans.org<\/a> to find your nearest branch.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Data released by the Office for National Statistics earlier this month revealed that Cumberland’s suicide rate per capita…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":202481,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[43],"tags":[102,2960,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-202480","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-healthcare","8":"tag-health","9":"tag-healthcare","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom","12":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/202480","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=202480"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/202480\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/202481"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=202480"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=202480"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=202480"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Chris Young, carrying the Baton of Hope in Cleator Moor with Lisa Birdsall(Image: Supplied)\n<\/p>\n
Carleton Clinic in Carlisle, which provides inpatient mental health services(Image: Newsquest)\n<\/p>\n