Various events to aid people with their mental health will be held in Harrow Civic Centre.

Harrow Council will be hosting many events at the Civic Centre, Station Road, as part of World Mental Health Day which takes place on October 10.

Suicide is the main theme of the mental health day, as the Council wishes to acknowledge how people can raise awareness of suicide, recognise signs of someone being suicidal and help prevent suicide, as well as other issues that affect someone’s wellbeing.

Councillor Simon Brown, the cabinet member for Adults and Public Health, said: “Mental health problems can affect any one of us at any time. That’s why it’s important to us at the Council to make sure everyone in Harrow feels comfortable talking about the issues and knows how to access services – either for themselves or to help other people.

“Our free events really are a great source of information and I can’t recommend coming along highly enough.

“In terms of the main suicide prevention theme, too many people here in the borough know of someone – perhaps without even realising it – who has thought about taking their own life.

“Sadly, some of us even know a friend, colleague or family member who has committed suicide. The more we know about the issue, the more we can recognise the signs and try to help.

“I, alongside other councillors and officers, pledged support to suicide prevention by doing the Thrive training. All it cost was 20 minutes of my time – and it could help save a life.”

Thrive is an online suicide prevention training course which helps how to support others at risk of taking their lives.

When are the events on?

During the week there will be workshops delivered by MIND, a mental health charity, at the Civic Centre:

An emotional resilience and wellbeing workshop will take place on October 7 from 10am to 12:30pm. The workshop will reflect on current resilience levels and become aware of how to deal with challenging thoughts and emotions.

On October 9, from 10am to 12:30pm, a workshop to talk about the fear and stigma about suicide will take place. It will offer opportunities to share best practice and how to support and signpost colleagues, friends and family who may be struggling with their mental health.

The main World Mental Health Day Event, which takes place on October 10 between 10am to 12:30 will have a mixture of talks, information, activities and stalls from mental health charities and supportive programmes.