Nearly 200 Of You Have Spoken UP
When I started training for the marathon almost 5 months ago, I wanted to get slightly fitter, raise awareness and shine a light even more onto mental health. I didn't realise what this would turn into. I raised £220 for PAPYRUS for their vital work answering phones for HOPELINE247. I could of course just move on and run the marathon for a different charity, that would be the easy thing to do, but I need to speak up about this. I won't rest until every single young person in this country has access to specialist suicide support.
This morning the Warrington Guardian ran a story. This story talked about how staff were mid-call with young people when the charity closed.¹ I'm unsure how I would feel if I was one of those young people on the other end of the phone, already calling because they felt on the verge of doing something unthinkable. The effects can't be reported yet, because we don't know how many have been affected, or if anyone has at all. Of course there are other suicide prevention charities, those contact details will be below, but very few offer specialist support to young people.
How can we live in a world where we ask people to talk to professionals and friends, while taking away specialist support? We can't leave young people without somewhere specifically designed for them to talk. Where do we send these young people? To an overcrowded A&E Department? To a waiting list? To... well, it doesn't really bear thinking about, does it? We put emphasis on GCSEs and A Levels and when they're pushed to the limit of stress through these channels, shall we just leave them? No, no we shouldn't.
So thank you for signing the petition. I will continue fighting for a restoration of the specialist suicide prevention support that PAPYRUS provided. I don't care who provides it, where, or even how. It just HAS to be provided. At the time of writing I'm 4 signatures away from 200, which in 24 hours is a massive achievement. I'll keep daily updates on here and on Facebook.
In terms of how the campaign is going, I emailed Charlotte Nichols and Sarah Hall, the MPs from both sides of Warrington. Ms Nichols replied with an email effectively agreeing with the campaign and has already written to the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, alongside cross-party MPs and peers, asking for there to be a restoration of these services in some sort of way.
This is half the battle. The rest of the battle includes looking at how these services can be restored, and building the public support that goes with that. This petition is about showing the Government and Parliament that people want something done.
Finally, thank you again for sharing and signing. I won't rest until young people have the specialist mental health and suicide prevention support they need.
Useful Mental Health Services and References from the above
Wilcox, E. (2026). Papyrus staff were mid-call with people in need when charity closed. Warrington Guardian. Available at:
https://www.warringtonguardian.co.uk/news/26542434.papyrus-staff-mid-call-people-need-charity-closed/
[Accessed 12 Sept. 2026]
Samaritans: 116 123
NHS 111: Call 111 (select the mental health option) or access NHS 111 Online for 24/7 triage and local crisis team connection.
Shout Text Service: Text SHOUT to 85258 for free, confidential, 24/7 text support.
In an emergency, always call 999 if you or somebody else is in immediate danger.
Thank you again,
Dylan x