Our Vision
One of David’s colleagues commented that if you had put together a list of 100 people in the restructuring market most likely to take their own life, David would not have been on it. And yet, at the age of 48, he did, less than a week after he had admitted that he was having suicidal thoughts.
I’ve had plenty of opportunities since then to think about what happened and how it could have been prevented. I have learned that suicide is the leading cause of death for people aged 10-34 and the biggest killer of men under the age of 50. Men aged 50-54 have the highest rate of suicide. Studies estimate that the economic cost of each suicide is £1.46 million. The personal loss can not be measured and on average 135 people are directly impacted by each suicide. The tragedy is that death by suicide is preventable; the persistent high rates of suicide are due to ignorance and stigma. With fewer than one third of people who die by suicide having accessed mental health support in the year prior to their death, it is clear to me that preventing suicide is everyone’s business.
It is because of this that the David Riddell Memorial CIO has been established. My strong desire to talk about what happened to David in the hope that this will help destigmatise suicide and perhaps prevent such futile deaths occurring in the future. I also want to honour the man David was by supporting charities that align with our mission to reduce deaths by suicide.
Nicole Guest
Founder Trustee and wife of the late David Riddell