Christmas calls to suicide helpline rise by one third

Calls to a suicide helpline rose by almost one third over Christmas 2014 compared to the equivalent period in 2013, a suicide prevention and bereavement charity has revealed.

Console yesterday said it received an average of 165 calls per day over the Christmas period, an increase of 31% on the equivalent 10-day period the year before, with almost 4,000 people ringing the helpline in December 2014.

Console founder and CEO Paul Kelly said it was the helpline’s busiest Christmas.