A Leeds mum has spoken out about how a tragedy in her teenage years has led to her trying to make a difference now.
Sheree Sims, 30, tragically lost her brother to suicide when she was just 14 years old. As an adult, she also lost her friend Jack Bentley, when he took his own life a week before he was due to be best man at her wedding.
Mum-of-three Sheree, from Morley, is now using her experiences to lead women's mental health group Women Inspiring Strength and Hope (WISH), a sister project to men's group Men In Need Together (MINT).
Read more: Leeds Bradford Airport unofficial car park alternative praised as 'absolutely first class'
Sheree, who now lives in Churwell, told LeedsLive: "It was very, very close to us as a family as I lost my brother to suicide, as well as losing family members due to drug addiction and alcohol addictions.
"And I think that a lot of addiction and things that do come hand in hand with mental health problems. So this is an issue close to my heart.
"I've struggled due to grief and that has only made me more passionate about it. I do think believe that some suicide attempts can start to be prevented by asking more people if they are okay.
"Letting people know that they're not going crazy and it's very normal to have those sort of feelings and it's normal to be depressed can help people feel less alone - but unfortunately, people don't talk about it and don't speak up a lot of the time."
Sheree was just 14 when her brother committed suicide. Years later, she was also devastated by the loss of close friend Jack Bentley to suicide. Jack's death inspired Joshua Sturgeon to first start up MINT back in 2018.
"It was such a massive shock and trauma," Sheree remembered.
"And there was just no awareness at all back in 2006 when by brother passed away, nothing at all. After Jack's death in 2018 a lot of us locally jumped to try and raise awareness of mental health. And I do think it is a lot better than it was - my kids learn a lot about mental health and mindfulness at school and that's great to see.
"For me, facilitating the WISH group also gives me a chance to talk about my story and open up."
The WISH groups actually began before lockdown, facilitated by Josh's mum, but it struggled to find a home to continue running during lockdown and had to shut down. Sheree has now restarted the group to give women a space to come and talk about how they're feeling.
WISH managed to secure a venue at the Salvation Army in Morley, and is now running weekly. So far they have around 13 regulars attending, but Sheree said they are growing every week.
There is also a phone or text-in WhatsApp service for those who don't yet have the confidence to come but want to talk to someone.
The group is an informal meet-up where attendees are encouraged to talk about their problems with their peers and offers support and advice to each other. Sheree will also signpost people onto specialist services such as Cognitive Behavioural Therapy and counsellors if necessary.
Sheree has trained in facilitating the conversations to make sure they remain helpful. She also gives the women who come weekly challenges for motivation, such as writing self-care diaries, identifying positive achievements and more.
She said: "I think we fill that gap, that stepping stone, while people are stuck waiting for counselling or mental health services as the waiting times for official help can be so long - you can wait months and months for people to get seen.
"There's definitely more need for mental health services since the pandemic too and it's disappointing that it's still so hard to get seen. I understand there's so much pressure on the NHS but there's so much need.
"I'm not promising to cure people, just to give them a friendly space to get a load off their chests and support each other. We have ladies who come because they're suffering from depression, PTSD, lots of different types of anxiety, loneliness.
"A lot of the time when people are struggling it's just a massive thing for them to be able to walk through the door."
Sheree's son also wants to help raise awareness of mental health problems, - and has been raising money in aid of related charities for the past three years. He has raised nearly £2000 in all at just the age of 10.
WISH sessions run every Monday at the Salvation Army in Morley at 7.30pm. You can find out more information on Facebook here or by emailing wish-womeninspiring@outlook.com.
To get the latest email updates from LeedsLive, click here.
