PAPYRUS Prevention of Young Suicide is the UK charity dedicated to the prevention of suicide and the promotion of positive mental health and emotional wellbeing in young people.
PAPYRUS exists to reduce the number of young people who take their own lives, by shattering the stigma surrounding suicide and equipping young people and their communities with the skills to recognise and respond to emotional distress.
We do this because suicide remains the biggest killer anyone under the age of in the UK, and we believe that suicide is preventable.
PAPYRUS was founded in 1997 by a group of bereaved parents, who had each lost children to suicide. These founding trustees shared the core belief that suicide is preventable, and that those of us with lived experience of suicide continue to have a valuable and unique contribution to make to the wider conversation around suicide. Since then, PAPYRUS has grown into a UK-wide charity with a presence in England, Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland.
There are three main areas of our work: supporting those who are experiencing thoughts of suicide, equipping communities through suicide prevention training and awareness raising, and influencing government policy on a local and national scale.
At HOPELINEUK – PAPYRUS’s dedicated suicide prevention helpline – our trained advisers work on a safety plan with young people aged 35 and under who are experiencing thoughts of suicide, to help keep them safe for now.
For more information about PAPYRUS’ services, visit here