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Start the Conversation: Suicide Prevention Education, Central Brighton (2025)

12/12/2025

An unexpected kindness.

I was out sober-karaoke-ing until midnight last night with my choir pals (🤪) so I had to dig pretty damn deep to get myself up and out early to this morning’s networking brekkie.

But it was totally worth it.

Rich from led some festive fun/reflective activities, which were thankfully way less cheesy than I feared.

I saw familiar faces including and and met from , Meg from .good.design, from , and for the first time.

As I was saying my goodbyes, I met John Thacker, who isn’t on social media (how fcking refreshing).

He had a pile of books and said I could pick one.

Whoa!

Of course, I was drawn to this one (I mean, that title and those colours, HELLO.) As I read the cover I welled up with emotion.

⭐ How To Know A Person ⭐
The Art of Seeing Others Deeply and Being Deeply Seen
A manual for sustaining friendships and having better conversations...

David Brooks, you are talking my language. I cannot WAIT to get stuck into this over the festive break.

And John, you won’t see this, but I’m sending you thanks nevertheless for this unexpected gift this morning and will repay your kindness.

How was YOUR Friday?

10/12/2025

📣 Calling all 👀

Did you spy this article in this month’s COUNSEL magazine?

I’ve been getting my writing hat on, and damn, it feels SO GOOD to step out of my comfort zone, and empower new people to talk about su***de with confidence.

What’s all this about then?

This week, this article was published in COUNSEL - the official monthly magazine of published by .uk

I co-wrote it with award-winning barrister Rachel Francis from , back when the sun was high and the days were long ☀️

Rachel and I were asked to write it because the legal profession, like so many, are suffering - largely in silence - and because too many lawyers are dying by su***de.

Long hours (70 hour weeks are commonplace), vicarious trauma, high pressure and expectations, stress, isolation, loneliness. The list goes on.

are LEADING THE WAY, by running a series of our half-day Talking about Su***de: 10 Tools (TAS:10)* training sessions for all their barristers and clerks.

Here’s what they said:

👉 “The training was so important for Chambers such as ours where so many of our clients are actively suicidal and where we have experienced the great sadness of two of our members having died by su***de.”

👉 “I was apprehensive at first but really glad I attended. It was very professional and sensitively done.”

👉 “All barristers should undertake this training, as I’m sure other professions should.”

👉 “Extremely informative and helpful discussion around a difficult and sensitive topic. Handled extremely well and delivered excellently.”

Our hope is that this article inspires more law firms and chambers to follow suit (no pun intended) and equip their staff with the TOOLS to talk about su***de, and the CONFIDENCE to use them.

Shall we talk about training for YOUR team?

Further specialist support:
❤️‍🩹 - the mental health charity for the legal sector
❤️‍🩹 The Solicitors’ Charity

* TAS:10 is the training I wrote with founder of .future

Link to article: https://www.counselmagazine.co.uk/articles/how-to-talk-about-su***de-at-the-bar

***deprevention

07/12/2025

Sunday reminder.

Nothing is under control.

Takes me back to a magic moment about 10 years ago, working with a client in my counselling days - perhaps days that will return 🤔

A young woman, about 16 years old.

Something she told me gave me a sudden urge to say something I sensed she needed to hear:

“Can I let you in on a secret? No one knows what they’re doing. We’re all making it up as we go along.”

Not everyone needs to hear this, I know.

Some folks need I cling to the sense that someone somewhere (ideally, often, themselves) is in control, or at least that someone knows what the hell is going on.

But my suspicion was right, and this young woman BEAMED.

“What? Even YOU Rose?”

“Yep. Even me. Sometimes, especially me.”

I remember her shoulders dropping. Deep breaths for us both. And we sat for a while in silence, smiling at each other.

Relax. Nothing is under control.

The world is wild.
The weather is wild.
The consumption is wild.
(Or can be, if we let it.)

But inside it’s warm and the Lego movie is going on and the popcorn is popping and we are so fcking BLESSED and we are making it up as we go along and everything will be ok.

Happy Sunday pals 🙏🏼

05/12/2025

These are not easy questions to ask but...

Have you attended an inquest, following the su***de of a loved one?

How was your experience, before, during and after?

In their darkest of days, families and friends bereaved by su***de deserve sensitive and robust support, transparency, timely responses, specialist care and consideration.

There is work to be done.

is currently gathering peoples’ experiences in an important survey.

Link in bio or below - share and complete BEFORE 9TH DECEMBER.

Their findings will help inform their work with Coroner Teams, starting next year, with the aim of improving coronial service practice for people bereaved by su***de.

Survey link 👉 https://freeonlinesurveys.com/s/0LbmhRQH/i/6730601/q/14351667

***deandco

***deprevention ***debereavement

28/11/2025

“Non negotiable days”

Inspired by over on LinkedIn, this is a post about one of my favourite days.

❤️ Date Day ❤️

For two years, my husband (aka Rowks) and I have ringfenced the last Friday of each month, to spend the whole day doing stuff together that makes us feel happy, rested, topped up, connected and/or laugh out loud.

And when I say “whole day”, I obvs mean, y’know, the hours between drop-off and pick-up 😉

I appreciate not everyone can take a day off every month - but there have to be *some* perks to being self employed!

I thoroughly recommend Date Days - with your mate, a stranger or yourself equally valid of course.

No agenda
No childcare costs

Minimum phone use
Maximum love.

I love you Rowks ❤️

(And yes, for the astute out there, Date Day is indeed TODAY, which is why I wrote this last night and scheduled it to post this morning!)

25/11/2025

You know that feeling?

The one you get (I get it in the pit of my stomach, quickly followed by an all over body wave 🌊) when everything about the situation silently screams:

“I am EXACTLY where I need to be right now.”

It’s an awesome feeling.

I’ve had it a few times.

🥰 On the first day of my Counselling Diploma.
🥰 On my wedding day (thank f*ck!)
🥰 When I’m singing with my choir.

And I had that feeling today.

Can you tell from my ridiculously overexcited face?! 🤪

Today, in a lovely light room near St Pancras station, was Day 1 of “Trauma Informed Facilitation”, a (so far, may I say, f*cking brilliant) pilot course from and Neurotribe UK CIC

I signed up, trusting my gut, because I was increasingly aware that:

We don’t know what we don’t know.
We ALWAYS have more to learn.
And I want to keep learning, always.

👉 I want to be a(n even) better facilitator.

👉 I want to bring new knowledge about power, privilege, racialised/neurodivergent/other trauma etc into spaces I am holding.

👉 I want to maximise accessibility and inclusivity.

So I’ve spent today expanding my awareness, and questioning everything, alongside a bunch of interesting and intelligent humans, and it feels AMAZING.

I can’t wait to learn more over the next few months.

***depreventiontraining

20/11/2025

There is ten minutes left of International Men’s Day

I’m on a rail replacement bus (Reading to Gatwick, fun times) trying to get home

And I’m raising an imaginary glass (of AF beer in my case) to men 🍺

To the allies (and the ones who aren’t, yet)
To the ones to ‘get it’ (and who don’t, yet)
To the ones who know that vulnerability is strong and sexy (and who don’t, yet)
To the ones who belly laugh and cry openly and stay curious (and who don’t, yet)

To fellas like who has written an INSANELY good book that everyone should read (search How To Help Him on Amazon- sorry it’s Amazon 🙈)

Like and who are making the world softer and kinder and more connected.

Like and .love_ who are honing their crafts into precious offerings the world needs.

Like and who are creating communities where men feel truly safe.

Like my dad Allett who first taught me what a good man looks like.

Like my gorgeous husband who is bold, inspiring and principled, not to mention my biggest cheerleader and my steadiest rock.

I made this on my journey👇 and I hope there’s something useful in there for someone.

Yikes. It’s 11:59pm. Best press “post”!

***de

17/11/2025

Rest in peace Lara 💔

Like anyone who walked or worked alongside her, I was utterly heartbroken to learn last night that , dedicated mental health and su***de prevention advocate, known and loved by so many of us in this space, took her own life on Friday.

I met Lara a few times over the past 2.5 years. Initially we met through the , prompting a stream of mutual support around our Brighton day in 2023, and the day she led in Portsmouth recently.
.. I met her again when she completed the two-day ASIST workshop with us in Brighton last year (with Lily by her side of course 🐾)
.. And most recently our work overlapped with the memorial website and quilts.

She was surrounded on all sides by people who cared deeply for her, who knew ‘what to say and do’, who knew about her struggles. And still, she is gone.

A sobering, devastating reminder that, despite the kindest words, the most active of listening, the offers of well-meaning and meaningful support, the best training in the world, and the knowledge that a caring conversation CAN save a life - that sometimes, tragically, it can’t.

What can we do this week? I’m feeling somewhat lost, and brain-muddled, but here are some thoughts.

🐾 Check in regularly with friends who are ‘visible’ as well as ‘invisible’.
🐾 Remember that heart-led work (like advocacy, caring, activism, speaking with lived experience), despite often being its own reward, takes its toll. Carers need caring for too.
🐾 We never truly know what someone is going through.
🐾 ‘Safety for now’ (as taught in the ASIST course) is sometimes as short and crucial as ‘safety for the next five minutes’.

Lara, you will not be forgotten 💔

Photograph of vibrant Lara and her beloved Lily taken in May 2024 when she stayed with my family in Brighton, for the ***deandco walk along the seafront. I remember this moment vividly; one of those “oh wow! Stop right there! I need to take your picture!” shrieking-with-laughter moments ❤️

05/11/2025

I made a thing 👆

Because we’re doing a few things.

And we hope to see you at one of the things.

Because these ‘things’ are really, super, mega* important.

Life-saving, many say.

See you there?

Booking link in bio or here:
www.starttheconversation.uk/trainingforall

* Is anyone else’s 6-year-old OBSESSED with the word ‘mega’?

***deprevention ***depreventiontraining

Big love and gratitude always to my co-creators and co-trainers .future to ASIST creators at and also to fellow trainers and team-mates and special thanks to Murray Cowell and the crew 🙏 ❤️

03/11/2025

I didn’t know Jim Warden.

But he sure sounds like the sort of fella I’d like to know.

What would you want written on *your* bench?

Or headstone, for that matter?

Shortly before I left Australia (I lived in Sydney for a year 2017-2018, working part time as counsellor in a girls high school, and part time delivering the ASIST su***de intervention training around the country…)

Shortly before I left Australia, I went to an unforgettable immersive art experience called We Are All Going To Die.

There were a bunch of death-inspired activities designed to challenge and confront, and writing our own headstones was one of them.

I think I’d be happy with “A gentle woman.”

02/10/2025

When did we stop dancing*?

I’m really not that great at it, but I *adore* how dancing makes me feel.

And it keeps popping up in my life:

💃 I learned ballet and tap until age 16 when I felt it wasn’t “cool” any more and stopped (big life regret!)
💃 In my mid 20s, I convinced my boss to give me a 6 month unpaid sabbatical so I could fulfil my childhood dream of learning to dance flamenco in Spain.
💃 Over the last few years I’ve occasionally spontaneously taken myself dancing (ceroc), inspired by my dad Ted Allett who at age 77 dances 2-3 x a week and is one of my favourite people to whirl me round a room.
💃 I’m not even going to mention Strictly. Oops, I just did 😉

And lately I’ve been craving more dance in my life.

So today, along with 30+ others, I’m starting the October Dance-a-Day Challenge run by my friend and fitness coach Talia.

Want to jump on board?
Or rather, shimmy on board? 🕺

Find Talia on insta or message me for the sign up link!

* Yes, I know I’m not dancing in this pic. I’m bouncing on a trampoline at a campsite somewhere in Switzerland this summer. It’s the most appropriate image I could find!

***deprevention

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Hi, I’m Rose Rowkins 🌹

✍️ To enquire about su***de prevention training, email hello@tas10.co.uk (for TAS10) or hello@starttheconversation.uk (for ASIST or anything else)

❤️‍🩹 If you are worried about someone you know, if you are bereaved by su***de, if you are thinking of su***de: you are NOT ALONE. Links to support in my bio or at www.starttheconversation.uk/get-help

***dePreventionTraining ***dePrevention

25/09/2025

Yesterday, an extraordinary thing happened.

I was on the phone to a company director, who was enquiring about su***de prevention training for their team.

Over the course of our call, it became apparent that this person was struggling personally. Like, a lot. Really not OK.

A few concerning words, some telling long pauses.
The things they said. The things they didn’t say.

We spoke about su***de; they had been thinking about it for a while. They had started to make plans but were (thankfully) seeking a way to stay alive. This person didn’t want to die, but they were desperate and in what felt like unbearable pain. They needed someone to listen.

And then (and here’s the extraordinary bit) they suddenly said: “Hold on a minute Rose. Someone’s walking towards me and I think they’re going to speak to me.”

Then I heard a stranger’s voice.

“I know you don’t know me, but I just noticed you over here on this bench, and I had to come check on you. Are you OK?”

As I listened to the short, kind exchange that followed, tears filled my eyes.

When they came back on the line, I just took a breath and said: “Wow.”

And they said “Yeah. I know. What are the chances? I guess there are some good people in this world.”

We gently continued then wrapped up our conversation, focussing on a couple of clear next steps that would keep them safe, and we said our goodbyes.

I made a cup of tea.
Answered a couple of emails.
Picked up Stan from school.
Got on with my day.

And I’ve not stopped thinking about this angel in the park.

I dream of a world where anyone feels confident to walk up to a stranger they are worried about and say these life-saving words.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Hi, I’m Rose Rowkins 🌹

✍️ To enquire about su***de prevention training, email hello@tas10.co.uk (for TAS10) or hello@starttheconversation.uk (for ASIST or anything else)

***dePreventionTraining ***dePrevention

Start the Conversation: Suicide Prevention Education

12/12/2025

10/12/2025

07/12/2025

05/12/2025

28/11/2025

25/11/2025

20/11/2025

17/11/2025

05/11/2025

03/11/2025

02/10/2025

25/09/2025

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