YouMatterWalk hosts its second annual walk for suicide
The YouMatterWalk garnered over double the amount of participants from last year.
The second annual YouMatterWalk (YMW) for suicide awareness took place recently at the Big Red Barn in Irene, Centurion.
YMW is a charity event started by three residents who have been affected by suicide. Christia Uys lost her husband, Jaco, in January 2020, Ilse Meiring her husband, Deon, in October 2019 and Carla de Jager her father, Nico, in January 2016 to suicide.
The trio founded YMW towards the end of 2021, to give space to those suffering from mental health to receive support.
From last year’s attendance of more than 500, YMW doubled its participants this year.
Some attended the event officially at Hillcrest sports campus of the University of Pretoria virtually from different locations in South Africa as well as England, Scotland, and Portland.
“The message of the YouMatterWalk is three-fold: we want to give people hope by encouraging them to talk about their struggles with suicidal thoughts and create awareness by reminding everyone that it’s okay to not be okay.
We also want to give hope and support to those affected by suicide loss through various organisations and support groups which will now be established.
Thirdly, we want to blow the stigma around mental health and suicide out of the water,” the trio had stated.
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), more than 700 000 people die annually by suicide and for every success, there are more attempts.
The YMW partnered with Impact 103, Radio Pulpit, Sadag, LifeLine, Reality Wellness Group, Vista Clinic, Adcock Ingram, Atlas Copco, Die Groot Ontbyt, Gautrain, Mediclinic Denmar, AfriForum-DieValMovie and TuksFM.
The Potato Foundation, a charity organisation, is their accounting partner and assists with 18A certificates for organisations that may require a tax benefit for contributions.
In the event of a suicide emergency, please call Sadag’s 24-hour suicide crisis helpline on 0800 567 567 to talk to a consultant.
For more information on YMW, visit www.youmatterwalk.co.za or check out @you_matter_walk on Instagram.
Residents can also email the Warriors 4 Suicide Awareness/Prevention (Ilse, Christia & Carla) at admin@youmatterwalk.co.za.
*Please note this article has been amended
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