This week, we chatted to the Student Union’s Equal Opportunities and Welfare Officer Zoe Mackenzie about the SU’s involvement in raising awareness for Suicide Awareness Week.
Why are you holding suicide awareness week?
I’m holding a suicide awareness week to firstly raise awareness of this as an issue and secondly ask the university to take action on reducing student suicides.
Why have you displayed 95 pairs of shoes around uni?
We have a display of 95 pairs of shoes on the Portland steps. Each pair of shoes represents one of the 95 students who died by suicide in England and Wales in 2017/18. We used donated shoes so that the shoes really represent students and specifically our students here.
What can our readers do to help this week?
We have a 95 seconds of silence on Friday at 12 where we will also be having speeches from myself and Myles as well as people who have been affected by this issue. We also have a petition which has over 1500 signatures. I hope the university will listen to our petition and introduce the changes we are asking for.
What is the petition asking for?
If you want to help make a difference to way that the university approaches mental health and welfare, you can find and sign the petition here https://www.su.nottingham.ac.uk/make-change/petitions/