Cycle Against Suicide is bound for Newry | Latest Newry News, Newry Sport and Newry Business for Newry City

Cycle Against Suicide is bound for Newry

Registrations are now open for Cycle Against Suicide’s annual cycle, which will take place from 28 April 2018 – 7 May 2018 across Northern Ireland and Ireland.

Cycle Against Suicide is an initiative to raise awareness of the help and support networks that are available to people across Northern Ireland and Ireland that are battling depression, self-harm, at risk of suicide or those bereaved by suicide.

 

 

Representatives from NI suicide prevention and awareness charities including Lighthouse, Suicide Down to Zero, PIPS, MindWise and Aware NI joined Cycle Against Suicide volunteers and the Lord Mayor of Belfast, Nuala McAllister for the Northern Ireland launch of the initiative. 

The Cycle Against Suicide cyclists are scheduled to arrive at the Newry City AFC grounds at approximately 5.30pm on Sunday 29th April for an overnight stay with locals in the area who have offered accommodation and refreshment to the participants as part of the initiative’s Homestay Program.

Each year, Cycle Against Suicide brings together cyclists with different backgrounds and stories to help break the cycle of suicide. Since 2013, the event has seen over 15,000 cyclists take to the roads to help spread the message that ‘It’s OK not to feel OK, and It’s absolutely OK to ask for help’.

The 2018 cycle is the biggest and the best event yet and along its route, between the 29th April and the 3rd May, the cycle will pass through counties Armagh, Antrim, Down, Tyrone and Fermanagh. Stopping in numerous locations along the route, the cycle hopes to raise awareness of and break the cycle of suicide.

 

 

Those who wish to take part can choose to get involved by cycling the entire route of 750km, part of it, or even just a local leg of the route. Every participant counts and together with Cycle Against Suicide, every cyclist can make a difference.

Northern Ireland has the highest rate of suicide in the UK. The latest regional figures on suicide revealed that more people have taken their own lives in Northern Ireland since the Good Friday agreement than were killed in political violence during the Troubles between 1969 and 1997.

The power of the cycle and its message is something that brings families, communities, organisations, schools, individuals and cyclists of all abilities together with a common purpose of ending the cycle of suicide in Northern Ireland and Ireland today.

 

 

Each year, Cycle Against Suicide aims to engage more and more communities to begin a conversation about mental health; about looking after ourselves and reaching out to each other.

CEO of Cycle Against Suicide, Caroline Lafferty commented, “We all know someone affected by mental illness. Even now stigma stops people from seeking help. It is due to stigma, fear and lack of understanding that many of us don’t talk about it.”

Speaking at the launch, Michaela Rafferty from Cycle Against Suicide added, “At Cycle Against Suicide, we are working with the people of Northern Ireland and Ireland to break down these barriers working to increase awareness of the support networks and treatments that are available to empower those affected.  Mental health illness, like any other illness, is treatable.

 

 

Register your support or interest in becoming part of the Homestay Program, volunteering or participating in the cycle at http://www.cycleagainstsuicide.com/get-involved/2018-cycle/

 

 

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Posted by on Apr 18 2018. Filed under Community, Sport, What's On. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry

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