Published on: March 27, 2025
Members of Compass Changing Lives attended the All Words, All Actions, All Weathers event on Mental Health and Suicide Prevention in Derbyshire earlier this month.
The event was a free two day conference and exhibition on Wellbeing, Mental Health and Suicide Prevention in the Voluntary, Community & Social Enterprise (VCSE) Sector, organised by Public Health Derbyshire and taking place in Swadlincote.
Rachel and Emily from Compass Changing Lives attended the event. Rachel is the Participation Practitioner at Changing Lives, as well the Health Equalities Lead for Suicidal Ideation and Self-harm. Emily is an Assistant Education Mental Health Practitioner, who assisted Rachel in leading Changing Lives’ presence at the event.
Mike McCarthy opened the event by talking about the Baton of Hope, a national suicide prevention campaign he helped found. Starting in 2023, a baton representing hope and community travels across the UK in a tour to destigmatise conversations around suicide and encourage people to seek help. At this event, Mike explained the rich symbolism behind the baton, and announced that the tour will visit Derby in 2025. He also discussed his own personal journey that led to him founding the Baton of Hope with Steve Phillip, after they both lost their sons, Ross and Jordan, to suicide.
The first day of the event was the exhibition portion, with local organisations in the VCSE sector running stalls sharing what they do. This was an opportunity for organisations to find out more about and learn from each other while making connections in their communities. Rachel and Emily talked to other attendees about their work with children and young people across Derbyshire.
Throughout the day there were performances and demonstrations, including singing, Tai Chi and a meet and greet with friendly therapy dogs.
In parallel to the stalls, the event included an exhibition of visual art inspired by mental health and suicide prevention, created by local artists. These included paintings, sculpture, installations and more. Leo Walton, a young person who attended Derby College, won an award for his work, an intricately illustrated panel of wood showing a collage of characters representing mental illness.
Day Two was the conference portion, with talks from experts on mental health strategies. These talks focused on wellbeing, with the hope that the strategies shared would help to reduce suicide attempts, completed suicides and self-harm. Topics covered included recent research and the ways that art and community are important factors in preventions. These were linked back to the rest of the event, by highlighting what was available locally.
Rachel and Emily left the event feeling inspired and energised, pleased with the community connections they were able to make, and positive about the work they will be able to do to prevent suicide and self-harm.
Rachel had the following to say about the conference:
“At the the end of the two day event, I felt really inspired and proud of the VCSE groups and individuals who dedicate so much of their time to improve well-being and reduce suicides through the care and support that is on offer and accessible by the Deby and Derbyshire community.”
In addition, Rachel wanted to emphasise the people to thank for the event:
“Thank you to Ellie Houlston, Mel Hani, Luke Oldham and James Creagan from Derbyshire County Council Public Health for organising and hosting the Derbyshire Mental Health and Suicide Prevention Conference and exhibition held at the Roliston Forestry Centre. Another big thank you to contributors who shared their personal experiences and those who gave demonstrations and talks.”
Derby , Derby and Derbyshire Mental Health Support , Event , suicide