Beachy Head Became a Place Where Life Begins Again
The Chaplaincy shows the profound impact of Community on mental health
“Do you know much about Beachy Head?”
Gus sat opposite me with his colleague Rachael in the Beachy Head Chaplaincy Crisis Unit office.
I met them that morning on the edge of the sheer white coastal cliffs they patrolled. I was passing through on my year-long walk around the coast of Great Britain for the mental health charity, MIND, when I met Claire attempting to take her own life.
After a conversation with her, I was fortunate she came away from the edge, but I didn’t know what I was doing. Having experienced suicidal thoughts myself, it was an intensely stressful situation to deal with, triggering a wave of grief in me I didn’t know I had.
It made it difficult to negotiate with someone whose suicidal fixation was only briefly disrupted by my intervention. Thankfully, Gus and Rachael were patrolling the cliffs and took over, seeing that Claire got the help she needed.
It was incredible to see the Chaplains work so calmly and effectively. Even sat with them afterwards, I couldn’t understand the gap between their seeming ease and my terrible guilt.
