Chloe Payne, BA Sociology, 2018
I received funding for my dissertation project: ‘After Suicide: How are those bereaved in the UK being supported?’ which included interviewing nine participants on their experiences following bereavement by suicide. Due to the sensitive nature of the topic, I felt it was necessary for me to have training in how to approach someone in a mental health crisis and give the right advice before attempting to interview people at high risk of emotional distress. These courses are more expensive than I could afford, but without them I wouldn’t have been able to take the best avenue for understanding this important topic.
The Mental Health First Aid course took place over two days and was provided by Mental Health First Aid (MHFA). I also used the funding for a membership with the International Association for Suicide Prevention (IASP). The IASP membership allowed me to have access to journal articles that were central to my dissertation research. I believe this greatly assisted me in getting a first class mark of 80/100.
The confidence I gained from the MHFA course has helped me feel comfortable using mental health first aid skills in everyday life and will be a valuable asset for me on future applications.
After university I plan to do a masters or PhD in mental health which will hopefully lead to a career in researching suicide. The funding not only gave me the opportunity to get the best possible experience from my dissertation project, but the training and membership of the IASP gave me two extra things to add onto my CV and talk about in interviews.
I want to thank all donors so much for their contributions. Receiving the grant made a huge difference to the end of my time at Westminster by making my dissertation topic possible.
We are thrilled to be running another telephone campaign this November. To celebrate, we are sharing with you The 125 Fund Stories, a selection of testimonials from the grateful beneficiaries of your generous donations. For more information, please visit: westminster.ac.uk/about-us/support-us/the-telephone-campaign
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