Website hits soar

Visits to home page rise 248 per cent in month

VISITS to the Breathing Space website rose 248 per cent in one month.

Figures show there were 33,508 website hits during September, compared to 9611 in August and 9479 in September last year.

The huge rise in website traffic can be explained by the Choose Life campaign, Suicide. Don't Hide It. Talk About It.

The month-long campaign kicked off on August 31 and ran until the end of September. Online, radio, poster and press advertising directed people to the Breathing Space website.

The highest visits to the home page were recorded during Suicide Prevention Week (September 7 to 13) with 10,453 visits.

Home page hits in one day reached a record high of 2020 on September 23.

There were 2359 views of our suicidal section, with 453 people visiting during Suicide Prevention Week. The suicidal pages were the fifth most visited section of the website.

In total, from September 1, 2008 to October 1, 2009, there were 7033 visits to the 'Feeling Suicidal' section.

The Choose Life campaign is aimed at men aged 18 to 44 and people who can help those feeling suicidal, such as friends, family and colleagues.

The overall goal was to continue to raise awareness and understanding of suicide and how it can be prevented.

Some of the main messages of the campaign were:

• If you are feeling suicidal, don't hide it – talk about it
• It's OK to talk about feeling suicidal
• Talk to someone you trust or phone a helpline (Breathing Space or Samaritans)
• If you are worried that someone you know is feeling suicidal, ask them – it could help save their life.

There were 843 suicides and undetermined deaths in Scotland in 2008. Around 75 per cent of those were men. Suicide remains one of the most common causes of death among young men in Scotland.

Choose Life is working with local partners to reduce the suicide rate in Scotland by 20 per cent by 2013

Based on three-year rolling average, there was a 10 per cent fall in suicide rates between 2000-02 and 2006-08.

Another burst of advertising activity is planned for next year using online ads, posters, pocketcards, radio and press.