Today is World Mental Health Day 2019 and this year the focus is on suicide prevention.

Such a pertinent focus as in the UK, The Office for National Statistics have reported that in 2018 there were 6,507 suicides registered, this is significantly higher than that in 2017 and represents the first increase since 2013.

Earlier this week, the PHE and the NHS in the UK launched a new initiative - Every Mind Matters - to help people take simple steps to look after their mental health, improve their mental wellbeing and support others. The Royals helped launched the web site. Lots of publicity obviously, and a well needed and helpful site.

So, well done to the Royals for raising the issue and talking about mental health, I'm sure this will encourage others to talk and to seek help. And although, this is a small step in the right direction by the PHE and NHS, we would really like to thank the organisations who have been looking after the people suffering with mental health issues for a very long time.

But before we do that, we would like to say a big thank you to all the Moodscope members that openly give their love and support to others, even though they may well be suffering themselves.

Here we go, here are our other heroes:

Mind https://www.mind.org.uk

Samaritans https://www.samaritans.org

Mental Health Foundation https://www.mentalhealth.org.uk

Young minds https://youngminds.org.uk

Sane http://www.sane.org.uk

MHFA https://mhfaengland.org

Place2Be https://www.place2be.org.uk

I'm sure there are many more smaller organisations out there that deserve a mention and if you know of one, please add it in the comments section on our blog.

In the meantime, if you are feeling suicidal, you are not alone, please reach out to someone, and if you can't talk to someone you know, we and our heroes are here to help.

Kind regards.

Caroline Ashcroft

Moodscope