Session One looks at what happens when we go into ‘crisis mode’. How it affects people generally, how they react, how it affects memory and emotions. We give
Session One looks at what happens when we go into ‘crisis mode’. How it affects people generally, how they react, how it affects memory and emotions. We give you a model BECIES, to help you work through the crisis with someone. Finally we look at our own self-care practices as this is important not only for us but for the person in crisis too.
In SessionTwo, on 29th July from 9.30- 11.15am, we look at the specific crisis of suicide. Using BECIES we begin by exploring why suicide needs to be tackled, what happens when a person is suicidal, how it affects people generally, how they react, what we can witness and how to approach them. We show the most appropriate and gentle way to clarify if suicide is ‘on the table’ then what to do with each of the three potential answers. Once the person has agreed to get help, we take you through a very basic safety plan. Finally we emphasise the need for self-care having completed a suicide intervention. Finally we emphasise the need for self-care having completed a suicide intervention.
It may seem obvious but specifically Session Two of the course is about suicide, one of the most difficult subjects to talk about and understand. It has the potential to become very heavy, especially when people connect to what has happened in the past, or may have happened and potentially connecting with their own current thoughts of suicide. As trainers we would urge anyone with any doubts about attending the training to think very carefully about attendance.
We try our best to lighten delivery of the material and to raise the mood at times. We do this by injecting a little humour at appropriate times. We do not intend to trivialise the subject, laugh at any experiences, nor be disparaging to anyone who has been suicidal or attempted or completed suicide. It is a very serious subject, but we seek to rob it of its power to instil fear in us. What we have found is that a little bit of humour or lightness can do this quite successfully as well as helping us all not to be overwhelmed.
It is suitable for a wide range of staff, including those who support volunteers.
This course can get very emotional for people. We understand that, we know it happens. We are talking about an emotional and traumatic subject. We put in place safeguarding and this means that we will have a helper there besides myself should distress occur. They have been trained to help out should the need arise. We do advise that you think about your own self-care during the course. You do not have to participate in anything you do not wish to. We do not force people to do anything. We will also ask you to take very good care of yourselves once the course is over.
Brian Glass
There are only 16 places available so book soon. There will be further sessions in October and November (dates to be announced) if you cannot attend the July sessions.
John Muir House
Volunteer Centre East Lothian
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To fulfill this, we aim to adhere as strictly as possible to the World Wide Web Consortium’s (W3C) Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.1 (WCAG 2.1) at the AA level. These guidelines explain how to make web content accessible to people with a wide array of disabilities. Complying with those guidelines helps us ensure that the website is accessible to all people: blind people, people with motor impairments, visual impairment, cognitive disabilities, and more.
This website utilizes various technologies that are meant to make it as accessible as possible at all times. We utilize an accessibility interface that allows persons with specific disabilities to adjust the website’s UI (user interface) and design it to their personal needs.
Additionally, the website utilizes an AI-based application that runs in the background and optimizes its accessibility level constantly. This application remediates the website’s HTML, adapts Its functionality and behavior for screen-readers used by the blind users, and for keyboard functions used by individuals with motor impairments.
If you’ve found a malfunction or have ideas for improvement, we’ll be happy to hear from you. You can reach out to the website’s operators by using the following email
Our website implements the ARIA attributes (Accessible Rich Internet Applications) technique, alongside various different behavioral changes, to ensure blind users visiting with screen-readers are able to read, comprehend, and enjoy the website’s functions. As soon as a user with a screen-reader enters your site, they immediately receive a prompt to enter the Screen-Reader Profile so they can browse and operate your site effectively. Here’s how our website covers some of the most important screen-reader requirements, alongside console screenshots of code examples:
Screen-reader optimization: we run a background process that learns the website’s components from top to bottom, to ensure ongoing compliance even when updating the website. In this process, we provide screen-readers with meaningful data using the ARIA set of attributes. For example, we provide accurate form labels; descriptions for actionable icons (social media icons, search icons, cart icons, etc.); validation guidance for form inputs; element roles such as buttons, menus, modal dialogues (popups), and others. Additionally, the background process scans all the website’s images and provides an accurate and meaningful image-object-recognition-based description as an ALT (alternate text) tag for images that are not described. It will also extract texts that are embedded within the image, using an OCR (optical character recognition) technology. To turn on screen-reader adjustments at any time, users need only to press the Alt+1 keyboard combination. Screen-reader users also get automatic announcements to turn the Screen-reader mode on as soon as they enter the website.
These adjustments are compatible with all popular screen readers, including JAWS and NVDA.
Keyboard navigation optimization: The background process also adjusts the website’s HTML, and adds various behaviors using JavaScript code to make the website operable by the keyboard. This includes the ability to navigate the website using the Tab and Shift+Tab keys, operate dropdowns with the arrow keys, close them with Esc, trigger buttons and links using the Enter key, navigate between radio and checkbox elements using the arrow keys, and fill them in with the Spacebar or Enter key.Additionally, keyboard users will find quick-navigation and content-skip menus, available at any time by clicking Alt+1, or as the first elements of the site while navigating with the keyboard. The background process also handles triggered popups by moving the keyboard focus towards them as soon as they appear, and not allow the focus drift outside it.
Users can also use shortcuts such as “M” (menus), “H” (headings), “F” (forms), “B” (buttons), and “G” (graphics) to jump to specific elements.
We aim to support the widest array of browsers and assistive technologies as possible, so our users can choose the best fitting tools for them, with as few limitations as possible. Therefore, we have worked very hard to be able to support all major systems that comprise over 95% of the user market share including Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Apple Safari, Opera and Microsoft Edge, JAWS and NVDA (screen readers).
Despite our very best efforts to allow anybody to adjust the website to their needs. There may still be pages or sections that are not fully accessible, are in the process of becoming accessible, or are lacking an adequate technological solution to make them accessible. Still, we are continually improving our accessibility, adding, updating and improving its options and features, and developing and adopting new technologies. All this is meant to reach the optimal level of accessibility, following technological advancements. For any assistance, please reach out to
