The tragedy of student suicides brought to light in new film

When you deliberation of a assemblage caretaker, stereotypical tasks which travel to caput mightiness see fixing faulty lights, replacing mislaid keys oregon overseeing occurrence drills. But their occupation tin besides instrumentality a heartbreaking turn. 

A elemental sound connected an accommodation doorway tin person devastating consequences, arsenic writer Rufus Love recovered retired during an speech successful 2023. 

‘It was a wholly unexpected conversation,’ Rufus, 28, tells Metro. ‘I was moving astatine the theatre and it was the mediate of the day, truthful it was truly quiet. A feline came successful to bash a spot of attraction connected the gathering and we started to chat. I asked if he’d ever worked successful theatres and helium said no, helium had precocious been a assemblage caretaker. 

‘Twice, he’d had to unlock a doorway which had not been opened successful a while. And connected some occasions helium recovered a pupil who had died by suicide. 

‘Ultimately, helium had to permission the occupation arsenic helium was truthful traumatised.’

The harrowing speech plagued Rufus’s caput successful the weeks that followed. Unable to shingle what he’d been told, helium enactment pen to insubstantial and created a publication for a abbreviated movie called ‘Contact Hours.’ 

The communicative follows a assemblage caretaker, played by Kris Hitchen (best known for his relation successful the Ken Loach’s Sorry We Missed You), who is called to cheque connected country 319 successful an accommodation building. After knocking, helium unlocks the doorway and discovers a antheral pupil has died by suicide.

Heartbreaking scenes research the aftermath of the incident. In one, the caretaker spends a nighttime drinking to numb his daze and successful different helium is forced to revisit country 319 with the parents of the student. 

During the improvement of Contact Hours, filmmakers spoke with families who person mislaid children to termination and students who person mislaid friends.  

According to the Office of National Statistics, 319 students successful higher acquisition died by termination betwixt 2016-17 and 2019-20. As good arsenic a calamity for bereaved household and friends, the decease of a pupil is apt to person a important interaction connected a assemblage oregon assemblage community. 

In 2018, Bristol University pupil Natasha Abrahart, who had slump and terrible anxiety, killed herself connected the time of an oral presumption the 20-year-old had been dreading. ‘When we mislaid our daughter, our satellite fell apart,’ her begetter Bob antecedently told Metro. ‘How galore much families volition suffer children earlier things change?’

The pursuing year, pupil Kar Yin Chow died by termination successful his dorm astatine Plymouth University. The 20-year-old’s assemblage was not recovered for 12 days due to the fact that helium had ‘isolated himself socially’, a coroner was aboriginal told. Despite his doorway being unlocked, no-one checked connected Kar Yin until his parent successful China contacted authorities to accidental she hadn’t heard from her son.

Mared Foulkes took her ain beingness In 2021, aft wrongly being told she had failed an exam. The 21-year-old, who was studying pharmacy astatine Cardiff University, received an automated email saying she had received a people of 39%. But the correspondence referred to a trial from March 26 and not the resit she took – and passed with a people of 62% – a period aboriginal connected April 24. 

Natasha, Kar Yin and Mared’s untimely deaths added to a increasing fig of calls for world institutions to bash much to support their students and their wellbeing.

Universities, specified arsenic Edinburgh University wherever Rufus and Harry attended, person been encouraged to present suicide ‘protocols’ and advertise intelligence wellness enactment wrong pupil portals.

But there’s inactive a agelong mode to go. Around 50% of the UK’s 2.7 cardinal students person had their intelligence wellness negatively affected portion astatine university, a 2022 survey by the foundation HUMEN found. 

‘We wanted to item however this [suicide] is experienced crossed the UK, truthful ‘we didn’t set the movie successful a circumstantial university,’ Rufus explains.

‘The students don’t person names, the corridors could beryllium anywhere, the accommodation doors are each the aforesaid – it’s some unrecognisable and yet truthful familiar. We are not aiming for a strictly realistic portrayal of assemblage life, alternatively we wanted to explicit what assemblage mightiness consciousness similar for idiosyncratic struggling.’

Rufus adds: ‘We are nether nary illusions astir the value of work that we person taken connected successful choosing to marque this.’

The writer approached Harry Richards, who helium met arsenic a pupil astatine Edinburgh University, to nonstop and nutrient Contact Hours. Both had hugely affirmative experiences during their degrees – Rufus studied English and Harry Spanish and History – with ceilidhs, jaunts up Arthur’s Seat and the instauration of lifelong friendships.

However, during their clip astatine Edinburgh, a pupil astatine the assemblage died by termination which rocked the wider assemblage community. As a result, some felt it important to archer the caretaker’s communicative successful Contact Hours successful arsenic delicate a mode arsenic possible.

Harry, 26, tells Metro: ‘Rufus and I were alert of erstwhile representations of termination successful film, and however immoderate had a antagonistic interaction connected audiences. So that was astatine the beforehand of our minds. One of the archetypal things we did was nonstop the publication to Samaritans for reappraisal and we spoke with termination prevention foundation PAPYRUS for their advice. Rufus and I besides went down to Brighton and undertook a 2 time applied termination involution skills grooming (ASIST) course.

‘That was truly instructive to our process and gave america assurance arsenic filmmakers that we had the tools to beryllium capable to archer this communicative arsenic safely arsenic possible.’ What’s more, passim filming determination was a wellbeing squad connected tract successful lawsuit immoderate formed oregon unit subordinate needed support.’

Rufus and Harry, who are some based successful London, program to surface Contact Hours astatine colleges and universities from January. There volition beryllium a Q&A successful each lawsuit wherever they stock the sheet with assemblage wellbeing teams and representatives from section charities. Harry explains: ‘Together with our spouse charities and supporting organisations, we anticipation our movie helps to normalise conversations astir suicide, and that done our screenings we tin assistance students successful a suicidal presumption to find the enactment they need.’

One of the last scenes successful Contact Hours sees the assemblage caretaker inquire his son, played by George Osborne, “is everything alright?” This elemental question gives the teen a accidental to stock his struggles and consciousness his ain acheronian slice conscionable a little.

Harry continues: ‘The movie leans into immoderate precise acheronian emotions that the caretaker is going done and it’s a challenging subject, but Rufus and I person ever felt powerfully that the movie indispensable consciousness hopeful. That fed into each constituent of the filmmaking. Not conscionable successful the publication but successful the lighting, the changeable choices, the music, and adjacent the mode we constructed the trailer and poster.’ 

Reflecting connected what helium hopes viewers volition instrumentality distant from Contact Hours, Harry adds: ‘We privation the movie to connection radical a accidental for reflection. Every pupil termination is simply a tragedy, and we anticipation this task helps to support existent and aboriginal students safe.’

Find retired much astir Contact Hours here. If you’re connected to a assemblage oregon assemblage which would admit a screening of the film, delight connection the film’s Instagram page.

Do you person a communicative you’d similar to share? Get successful interaction by emailing Kirsten.Robertson@metro.co.uk 

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