Ripples of Despair - Shining a light on the impact of lives lost to alcohol, drugs, and suicide (2024)
Acknowledgements
This report was made possible thanks to the courage and bravery of the people who shared their stories and experiences. They did this in the hope of helping and making a difference for others, for which we are incredibly grateful. To those who participated - thank you. We see you; we hear you, and we stand with you.
Enabling people with lived experience to be involved in this report, required the help, support, knowledge, and kindness of people and organisations working in Gateshead. Thank you to those who helped do this, and who also guided this report on its use of sensitive, inclusive and supportive language:
Deacon Tracey Hume, Recovery Church
Ricky Vasey and Emma Ferguson, Recovery Connections
Shannon Scott and Marie Bewley, If U Care Share
Sara Muzaffar, Peace of Mind
Talking about dying and death literacy was enabled through the work and contribution of Dr Lizzie Woods, Consultant in Palliative Medicine, Gateshead NHS Health Foundation Trust. Thank you, Lizzie, for your help navigating this topic.
A huge thank you to the team who worked incredibly hard putting this report together:
- Sophie Colebourne
- Allison Cowling
- Rebecca Dew
- Angela Hannant
- Claire McNaney
- Olivia Mullaney
- Yvonne Robson
- Barbara Rowan
- Julia Sharp
- Phil Snow
- Louise Sweeney
The recorded lived experience stories shared in this report were developed by the talented team at Digital Voice for Communities.
This report was supported by the Gateshead Health Determinants Research Collaboration, supporting and enabling research in practice.