A GROUP of youngsters have placed messages of support on a bridge in a bid to prevent suicide.

Teenagers from Zac’s Youth Bar hung pieces of paper on a bridge at Kearsley Island, which overlooks St Peter’s Way on Saturday.

It came two days after a man in his 30s fell from the bridge and was taken to hospital after suffering “major trauma”.

Sonja Hordern, who is a youth work officer at Zac’s, said: “We wanted to write some positive messages to try and get people to stop and think.

“We did a session about self-worth recently and quite a few of the young people have suffered with their mental health in the past.

“We have quite a few people that walk over that bridge and we wanted to prevent anything happening in future.”

Among the colourful messages hung on the bridge were ones reading “you are someone’s sunshine”, and “your life matters and so does your suffering”.

Other messages provide advice on how to seek help.

Ms Hordern says that since sharing photographs of the messages on Zac’s Youth Bar’s Facebook page, youngsters had received an overwhelming amount of support.

She added: “They are really proud of the response.

“There have been some really positive messages from people that have struggled with depression.”

The organisation, which is based in Market Street, Farnworth, is run by the Sycamore Project and provides support for children and young people aged 8-18. Last week, councillors called for action to be taken to raise the barriers on bridges around Kearsley in order to protect lives.

Cllr Paul Heslop said he was concerned that higher barriers had been put up on walkways across other bridges in Bolton, but not in Kearsley.

Fellow ward councillor Julie Pattison also called on the relevant public and health services to take a combined approach to prevent future tragedies.

Similar calls for higher bridge barriers were made last year after a woman was left in a critical condition when she fell from the Bradford Street bridge and collided with a car on St Peter’s Way.