Hairdressers and Taxi Drivers in Northern Ireland to be trained to spot suicidal clients
Wednesday, September 9th, 2009Filed under: Uncategorized
A suicide prevention group in north Belfast has recruited hairdressers, barbers, and taxi drivers to help spot vulnerable people who might be contemplating taking their own lives.
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From guardian.co.uk:
Philip McTaggart, the north Belfast-based Public Initiative for the Prevention of Suicide and Self-harm (Pips)’s founder and chairperson, said the idea came about after volunteers in the Duncairn Gardens area of the city relayed stories they had heard while at the hairdresser. “It seems that when someone sits down in the chair to have their hair cut they will talk about anything, including things that they might feel uncomfortable speaking of to those they know,” he said. “But they will open up to a stranger who is standing over them cutting their hair. So we went around various salons and asked staff about what sort of problems in their lives their customers talked about. What the staff told us was quite shocking.” [...] [Belfast salon owner Nichola] McWilliams said the public would be astonished if they realised how open people are when they sit down in front of the mirror to have their hair cut. “They know that you are not going to judge them,” she said. “You don’t know that much about them and for some strange reason they seem to feel more secure.” She had often had male clients who would “talk about ending it all to escape their problems.” Several hairdressing academies, including one based in Coleraine with 300 students, are joining the scheme this autumn. McTaggart said that training would also be given to drivers from the West Belfast Taxi Association.
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Jane Goetzee is an artist based in the UK. She holds first and Masters degrees in Fine Art at the University of Staffordshire and has worked for many years as a community artist. She writes poetry, makes short films and soundscapes, most of which focus on issues of identity, stereotyping, and representation. As a 
