Cycle Against Suicide is an initiative to raise awareness of the help and support networks that are available to people across the island of Ireland that are battling depression, self-harm, at risk of suicide or those bereaved by suicide.

Each year, Cycle Against Suicide brings together communities with different backgrounds and stories to help break the cycle of suicide. Since 2013, the event has seen over 15,000 cyclists take to the roads to help spread the message that ‘It’s OK not to feel OK; and It’s absolutely OK to ask for help’.

The official 2018 route will pass through 5 counties in Northern Ireland, stopping in numerous locations along the route, rallying hope and support in localities throughout Northern Ireland.

Hazelwood Integrated College, welcomed the cyclists on Monday evening and gave them an encouraging and inspirational send off on Tuesday morning as they set off on the next stage.

Northern Ireland has the highest rate of suicide in the UK*. The latest regional figures on suicide revealed that more people have taken their own lives in Northern Ireland since the Good Friday agreement than were killed in political violence during the Troubles between 1969 and 1997**. So many families and communities devastated; so many lives cut short.

The power of the cycle and its message is something that brings families, communities, organisations, schools, individuals and cyclists of all abilities together with a common purpose of ending the cycle of suicide in Ireland and Northern Ireland today. Each year, Cycle Against Suicide aims to engage more and more communities to begin a conversation about mental health; about looking after ourselves and reaching out to each other.