Raising awareness of ‘significant’ suicide stats

HUNDREDS of locals will gather at Dai Gum San on Sunday 16 March for a walk to raise awareness of suicide and to highlight its incidences in the community.

Organised by the Suicide Prevention Awareness Network (SPAN) for Central Victoria, the walk was first held in 2012 and loops through Rosalind Park before crossing Pall Mall.

SPAN CV president Lisa Renato explained the road crossing is designed to be a way of gaining attention, almost by stealth.

“Everyone’s wearing their teal SPAN T-shirts and people who are paying tribute to someone’s loss are carrying butterflies,” she said.

“When they cross the road at Pall Mall, the purpose of that is we want people in their cars saying, ‘oh, what’s going on here? What’s this?’

“We want to be raising that kind of awareness. We want to get people talking about it.”

She said the number of deaths by suicide in Australia annually is significant, 75 per cent of which are men, with the biggest cohort 15 to 44-year-olds.

“Every life lost to suicide is an absolute tragedy,” she said.

“What we know is for every person we lose, approximately 135 people are impacted by that death – family, friends, work colleagues, footy mates, extended family.

“So we really want to do everything we can to support people to prevent suicide, and to support people who may have been touched by suicide.

“It’s everybody’s business.”

The Suicide Prevention Awareness Network Walk 2025 embarks from Dai Gum San in Bridge Street on Sunday 16 March after an official opening ceremony at 10.50am.

Staff from headspace, Bendigo Community Health Services and Lifeline will be available on the day.

If you or someone you know needs mental health support, visit Beyond Blue or call their 24/7 hotline on 1300 22 4636. You can also visit Lifeline or call them on 13 11 14 and help for young people is available at Kids Helpline or by calling them on 1800 55 1800.