Charity rickshaw road trip comes to Kildare Village for breakfast tomorrow

The CEO of Pieta House Brian Higgins is travelling around Ireland on a rickshaw to raise awareness of Suicide Prevention Day on Saturday.

Brian set off from the original Pieta House in Lucan, Co Dublin on August 31.

And the final leg of his trip will begin in Kildare Village tomorrow morning at 9.30am and people are invited to come along to support the initiative.

The aim of the journey is to raise awareness of – and to try and combat – the stigma that still surrounds suicide and self-harm.

Brian (pictured with 2fm DJ Eoghan McDermott) came up with the idea of the `Pieta Grand Tour’ as Pieta House is marking its 10th year, the organisation is about to open its 10th centre (in Waterford) and he’ll complete the feat in 10 days.

Brian said: “Our vision is of a world where suicide, self-harm and stigma have been replaced by hope, self-care and acceptance.

“In the last 10 years we have been brilliant at replacing suicide with hope and bringing people to self-care, but the biggest struggle for us is to replace stigma with acceptance.

“Individually, we all need to tackle the stigma that leads people to the doors of Pieta House. So the idea of the rickshaw came from the concept of creating a vehicle that allows people to talk about stigma and the pain that they feel. So I want people to journey in the rickshaw with me and tell me their stories.

“The aim is to try and create a mechanism where we are more tolerant of each other. It’s a bit like the Jerry Springer catchphrase of `Look after yourselves. And each other.’

“At Pieta House we have helped more than 25,000 people since 2006. But wouldn’t it be wonderful if we didn’t have to do it for another 10 years – to think of a time when suicide and self-harm aren’t options for people?” On his trip, Brian hopes to take in as many of the 10 Pieta House centres as possible, as well as some of the suicide bereavement centres that the organisation has been operating since mid-July http://pieta-grand-tour.everydayhero.do/