Mandy Le Bachelet and Sarah Bamford from Talking Benches

Mandy Le Bachelet and Sarah Bamford from Talking Benches have nominated for the Bailiwick Community Hero award

‘TALKING BENCHES was started four years ago by three mothers whose sons had taken their own lives. They were then joined by others who had also been affected by a suicide.

Talking Benches is an organisation working to reduce suicides, operating under the belief that ‘nobody should suffer alone’.

‘The initial aim was to put brightly coloured benches around the island to encourage people to talk and listen,' said Sarah Bamford, one of founders of the project.

Talking Benches regularly runs the Suicide Friendship Group to help meet the demand for support for those who have been affected by suicide, and have paid for a counsellor to train as a suicide bereavement counsellor in the UK.

Sarah and fellow co-founder Mandy Le Bachelet also helped organise The Suicide Journey in March 2024, a conference to encourage people to talk about what is often a taboo subject.

In the future Talking Benches is aiming to work closely with education and the third sector.

‘Sarah and Mandy have allowed for Talking Benches to grow and connect our community to talk in alternative ways to environments that aren’t clinical, which is so important,’ said their anonymous nominator.

‘They bring the Guernsey community together to talk and share and give hope in a time of need and darkness, and bring light to anyone affected by suicide.’

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