A MENTAL health charity has called for more suicide awareness and prevention following the death of TV presenter Caroline Flack.

Lancashire Mind believe that suicide prevention should start before people are in crisis and that everyone has a role to play.

Miss Flack, 40, took her own life last weekend after suffering from online abuse over an alleged attack on her partner.

Tommy McIlravey, CEO at Lancashire Mind, said: “It’s extremely sad that it takes the death of a high-profile celebrity like Caroline Flack for suicide and mental health generally to be talked about more openly.

“At Lancashire Mind we are trying to lead a mental health and wellbeing revolution, breaking down the stigma and misconceptions around mental health. Initiatives like our suicide prevention work go a long way in addressing the importance of helping everyone to understand the issues around mental health. If it stops just one person from taking their own life then it’s been worth it.”

Mr McIlravey’s message comes after The Samaritans reported that deaths from suicide rose by 10.9 per cent in the UK in 2018 and recent figures from the Office of National Statistics show that whilst suicides among young people are generally lower than the rest of the population, there has been an increase in recent years.

Among 10-24 year old girls and women, there has been an sharp rise in the number of individuals taking their own lives.

Karen Arrowsmith, training lead at Lancashire Mind, says: “Awareness and prevention must happen in schools, in workplaces, within families and in local communities.

“Lancashire Mind has been successfully delivering suicide prevention workshops in workplaces across Lancashire for over a year. We have given over 2,000 people the confidence and tools to recognise and deal with the signs.”

The message from Lancashire Mind in the wake of a number of inquests involving cases of suicide in East Lancashire, which sparked coroner James Newman to send out his own warning about the need for people, especially young men, to seek help before it’s too late.

Speaking at the inquest of tragic inquest 32-year-old suicide victim Neil Jex, Mr Newman said: “I would encourage any young men who are finding themselves in this situation to talk to family or health care professionals in order to revert what is becoming one of the biggest killers of young men in our time.”