Our Story
The Patrol Team was founded by Suicide Prevention Bristol in 2018 and have received advanced training in suicide prevention.
The Patrol Team are volunteers who believe that people deserve care and compassion in their time of need. Those needs could be as a result of homelessness, self-harm, suicidal thoughts, intoxication, drug abuse, assault or any other issue which has caused personal distress or the potential for physical harm.
We strive to help prevent suicide and we are aware that the above mentioned needs along with others can be a contributing factors to a person finding themselves having suicidal thoughts. This is the reason we feel it is important for us to reach out to those in a range of environments and situations, to ensure they feel supported.
72% of people who complete suicide have not been in contact with any mental health services in the year before death.
Our role
They help people whoever they are and whatever their situation, for example by listening, caring, offering practical help or by referring people to other (specialist) agencies who can help them. They will also provide assistance until emergency services arrive and provide them with a handover that can be important within that situation.
We provide not only support to other outreach and emergency services within the area but provide support to those that are not in services.
Suicide is the most common cause of death for those aged 10-19 –
Coverage
Our teams cover 30 miles from Bristol City.
We service a population of around 1.8 million across Bath and North East Somerset (BaNES), Swindon and Wiltshire, and Bristol, North Somerset, and South Gloucestershire.
We are proud of the comprehensive range of services we offer and the compassionate care our staff & volunteers provide. We remain committed to working in partnership with service users, carers, healthcare system partners, other healthcare providers, and a wide range of voluntary sector organisations to ensure we can be responsive to individual needs.
