A CHARITY boss has backed The Mail's 'Time to Talk' campaign by urging anyone suffering in silence to seek help.

Karen Dobson, chief officer at Mind in Furness, has spoken out after it was revealed at least five men and one woman had taken their own lives since Boxing Day.

She said the shock reality of of male suicide had left many families devastated.

Mrs Dobson said: "Our staff team have talked about this a lot lately and of course we are concerned.

“We are incredibly sad that young men reach this point, when talking to someone could have made a difference and our hearts go out to the families affected.

“We at Mind in Furness have an open door policy- we offer a non-judgmental listening ear to anybody who needs to talk, we signpost to the Samaritans, CALM and Cumbria Mind line to ensure people have somebody to talk to out of hours."

Two young men taken too soon are 18-year-old Jake Davies, from Askam, and 27-year-old Will Taylor, from Barrow.

The Mail's ‘Time to Talk’ campaign aims to highlight the support and advice that is widely available for anyone in crisis.

The Time to Talk campaign aims to shed the light on the fact some men are keeping their problems bottled up leading to tragic consequences.

The Mail wants to encourage a more open dialogue about mental health and help to remove the stigma surrounding asking for help.

We plan to work alongside charities to raise awareness of the behind-the-scenes work they do to show people the support available and to prove they are not alone.

Suicide prevention is a responsibility of the whole community and something we can achieve by reaching out to loved ones and letting them know it’s OK not to be OK.

Mrs Dobson said: "We encourage Peer Support in our services, so people can talk to others who have had similar experiences. We offer support through our Help Through Crisis project to those in crisis because off financial/ benefit/housing issues.

“We also link in with other groups to promote the positive mental health message such as The Well and local Men’s Group’s. We are also having discussions with statutory partners about how we might be able to do more to offer support to those in crisis out of hours and are also looking to set up a services that provides support direct from GP surgeries.”

Where to seek help

n The Samaritans free helpline can be contacted 24hours a day 365 days a year by phoning 116 123.

n Local support is available from Mind in Furness (Tel: 01229 827094), Ulverston Mind (Tel: 01229 581578) and South Lakeland Mind (Tel: 01539 740591)

n For those bereaved by suicide you can find your nearest SOBS support group at https://uksobs.org or call 0300 111 5065.

n For children bereaved by suicide the Child Bereavement UK helpline is 0800 02 888 40