Fundraising group Support After Suicide sponsor Mark's Chair For Hope at Church on the Street in Burnley

Support After Suicide is running Mark's Chair For Hope to encourage people to talk about the subject. The group has sponsored a chair at Church on the Street where anyone who is struggling can leave their details in a post box to be contacted by the charity's mental health team. It has also donated £7,300 to Church on the Street, which is located in Hammerton Street, to support its work.

Sharon Chapman, one of the organisers, decided to launch the scheme in memory of her husband, Mark, who died by suicide four years ago.

"Someone sent me a card that said, 'There's always hope,' and we need to spread the message."

Sharon has teamed up with a mental health nurse to include a QR code with the chair that will signpost people to mental health support.

"I don't want suicide to be a taboo subject. Everybody should know where they can go if they need some help. For physical health, people know what to do. But for mental health, they don't. People think it's a choice rather than an illness, and it's not. Mental health should be as important as physical health."

Sharon also hopes to work with art therapist Gillian Brooks, who has helped to make a film about suicide, to tour a second chair around colleges, libraries, and community venues as an art installation.

"An empty chair is striking and hopefully a little bit shocking. Hopefully, people will think, ‘We need to do something to help prevent suicide’."