We Are Together was formed in response to the death of my daughter, Phoebe, at university.

It is so difficult when your life has been affected by the tragedy of suicide. You cannot go back to the life you had and you have to start a new life even though you don’t want to. New paths have to made by taking very small steps and it is like fumbling around in the dark to try to find a way forwards. Devastated and heartbroken, we have to find a way somehow, having experienced something so brutal for which there are simply no words.

Not only do we have to find a way to manage our enormous grief, we have to deal with all the voices ‘why didn’t I’, ‘why didn’t they’, ‘what if’ and all to often carry an enormous burden of guilt and remorse. As time unfolds, you realise the grief isn’t just what you have lost, but the person you have lost, that won’t live on to experience some of the incredible events that can happen in life, being married, having children, celebrating the wins, more laughter and even being grandparents themselves…
And so, here we are. I wanted to make this website for Phoebe, for all the other students we have tragically lost and for all the current and future students who need vital support. My aim is to work with others to collate vital information about the mental health needs of young people at university, and present it to those who are in a position to instigate and make change, so we can make a difference.