An initiative to support mental wellbeing in Dawlish, and ensure that people know how to get help, is being welcomed by local residents.

Dawlish Town Council set up a working group on mental wellbeing and suicide prevention not long before the Covid-19 crisis began.

They have produced a leaflet, 'Do You Need Help?', raising awareness of the help available for people struggling with mental health difficulties, and emphasising that there is no shame in seeking support.

Seven thousand leaflets have now been distributed to households in and around Dawlish.

What's in the leaflet?

The leaflet is intended as a self-help tool, but also offers advice for anyone concerned about someone else who is suffering from depression or suicidal thoughts.

Councillor Carole Tamlyn, the group's chair, said: "Obviously we didn't know we were going to have Covid, but it's very much front-line at the moment, what with suicides increasing and mental health problems increasing."

The four-page leaflet contains details of a range of support groups including the Samaritans and the organisation working to prevent male suicides, Campaign Against Living Miserably (CALM), along with local support organisations such as Recovery Devon and Mental Health Matters.

It gives advice on 'safe talk' – how to communicate with someone who you believe is thinking about ending their life.

The leaflet also advises on an emergency support, if someone has harmed themself or is about to do so.

There are also details of helplines for problems that are known to cause or worsen stress and anxiety, including drug and alcohol misuse, bullying, homelessness, debt and domestic abuse.

The leaflet has been very well received by local residents, according to town councillors who distributed the leaflets with the help of volunteers from Assist Teignbridge.

Councillor Tamlyn said one local resident had phoned the town council to thank them for providing such a helpful resource.

She said: "She was moved to tears by it, having experienced significant mental health issues herself and fallen foul of the NHS emergency system.

"She couldn't praise the leaflet highly enough, and said she had personal experience of some of the contacts in it, and agreed that they were all excellent people or organisations who she would certainly contact if she had problems in the future."

The next stage of the initiative

The next stage of the campaign will be a poster that will be put up in pubs and public toilets around Dawlish, and on the town noticeboards.

It carries phone numbers for key sources of help such as the Samaritans, CALM, Alcoholics Anonymous and organisations supporting people affected by debt, problem gambling and domestic abuse.

There is also a QR code that can be scanned on a mobile phone to deliver online details of many other organisations offering help.

The poster is expected to be ready for distribution by early December, when lockdown is due to end. People will be going out more, but are likely to be feeling miserable about the Covid restrictions affecting Christmas.

The working group hope the poster will reach a younger section of the population than the leaflet.

Dawlish Town Council heard Councillor Tamlyn's report on the progress so far, and the plans for the poster, at their meeting on Wednesday, November 4.

Councillors all welcomed the news and unanimously approved the report, with Councillor John Petherick saying: "Little did we know how crucial this was going to be."