Helping Young People Who Are Struggling With Life
Suicide is the biggest killer of young people under the age of 35 in the UK.
Every year around 250 teenagers take their own lives.
The national charity Papyrus Prevention of Young Suicide believes many of those deaths are preventable.
The charity aims to reduce the number of young people who take their own lives by breaking down the stigma around suicide and equipping people with the skills to recognise and respond to suicidal behaviour.
Chief Executive, Ged Flynn, said: “Contrary to what people may think, talking openly about suicide doesn’t increase the risk by putting the idea into a young person’s head. Instead, it gives them a safe space in which to talk openly about how they feel and discuss what help they need.
“Suicide is very complex and rarely the result of single factor, so it is important that a child or young person who is having thoughts of suicide gets professional help and advice which can help to keep them safe.”
The charity depends on public generosity, donations and fundraising.
That money helps Papyrus to run a confidential helpline service which provides practical advice and support to young people and anyone who is concerned about a young person who may be having thoughts of suicide.
HopeLine 24/7 is staffed by trained professionals, offering a telephone, text, email and webchat service.

Donations and fundraising also helps the charity to provide suicide-prevention projects in local communities across the UK, supports a network of volunteers and helps to deliver training to groups and individuals.

“PAPYRUS was founded in 1997 by a small group of parents who had been bereaved by suicide. Their aim was to prevent other families going through the agony and heartbreak of losing a child to suicide,” added Ged Flynn.

“Twenty-nine years on and our ethos remains exactly the same. We need to get families to talk openly about suicide, smash the stigma and have conversations which allow a child or young person to talk about how they feel.”

Every year energetic fundraisers walk, run, cycle, climb, swim and even skip to support the charity. The brave ones parachute out of aeroplanes, wing-walk or abseil down cliffs and tall buildings.

Three fathers who each lost a daughter to suicide have raised more than £1.4 million pounds for Papyrus.

Andy Airey, Mike Palmer and Tim Owen, better known as the 3 Dads Walking, attracted national and international publicity by taking part in four challenging walks.

In 2021 they walked 300-miles between their homes in Cumbria, Greater Manchester and Norfolk.

A year later they doubled that distance by trekking 600-miles between the four UK parliaments of Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales and England.

In 2024 they added another 500-miles to their total by walking from Stirling in Scotland down the east coast of England to Norwich.

In 2025 the 3 Dads Walking trekked 130-miles around Anglesey in North Wales in eight days.

They were walking in memory of their daughters 17-year-old Beth Palmer, 19-year-old Emily Owen and Sophie Airey who was aged 29.

Throughout, their mission has been to raise money and awareness of Papyrus but also to get suicide prevention included in the school curriculum, something they have achieved.

In July of 2025 the government announced it was updating guidance for relationships, sex and health education in schools across England, giving schools permission to bring the subject of suicide prevention out of the shadows and into the classroom.

Andy Airey said: “The fact that suicide is the biggest killer of young people in the UK is both a tragedy and a national scandal which needs to be addressed.

“Young people want to know more about mental wellbeing and where to get help and schools have a vital role to play in saving young lives.”

Mike Palmer added: “The work Papyrus does is so vitally important. We all need to talk about suicide. We also need to equip our young people with life-skills which they can carry through the rest of their lives to protect themselves and others.”

Tim Owen said: “Papyrus works across all four nations and as the 3 Dads Walking we’ve trekked across those four nations. Education is devolved and we now want to see children and young people accessing suicide prevention in schools right across the UK.”

Every week Papyrus receives hundreds of calls, texts, emails and webchats. Many of those contacts are from children who have found the strength to get help.

Chief Executive, Ged Flynn, said: “It shows such wonderful resilience that children, who have been unable to talk to anyone, are able to reach out and speak to us and share how bewildered and frightened they are.

“It is also wonderful that parents, family members and friends who are concerned about a young person contact us because they want to intervene and seize the opportunity to get them the professional support and advice they need.”

Everything you need to know about PAPYRUS, including valuable resources which can be downloaded, can be found on the charity’s website: www.papyrus-uk.org
For practical, confidential suicide prevention help and advice call HopeLine 24/7 on 0300 102 2470, text 88247, for webchat visit the website www.papyrus-uk.org or email pat@papyrus-uk.org