Waterlooville man starts RadioCheck mission to encourage people to reach out to loved ones suffering from mental health issues after it saved his life
Waterlooville man starts mission after a phone call saved his life
Jordan Folkard was at his lowest point when a call out of the blue from his mum stopped him from taking his own life.
The 30-year-old from Purbrook has now chosen to use the worst moment of his life to inspire people to check-in with family, friends and strangers to help prevent more deaths. His RadioCheck movement has taken off in air soft clubs around the country, one of Jordan’s passions, but now he is looking to amplify the message to a wider audience.
Jordan said: “I was contemplating taking my life but luckily a family member checked in on me and basically saved my life, so I am incredibly grateful to them. That is how the idea originally came to mind, it just takes two seconds to check in on someone or message them.
“Silence is a killer when it comes to mental health as people don’t talk enough. Hopefully just by reaching out it gives people the chance express their thoughts and feelings. The mission is critical and we need to start normalising these conversations.”
With Jordan’s lowest ebb only a matter of weeks ago, he moved quickly to take action and try to take something positive from the incident. He approached his local air soft club, Ambush Activities in Southampton, with the idea of RadioCheck and asking if they would be happy to put up posters.
They were and it has since spread to ten other clubs around the country who feature the posters and are getting mental health trained staff on site.
Jordan said: “I am now trying to publicise it outside of air soft to the general public. Check in on your family, on your friends, even to random strangers because you don’t know what people are going through. I personally don’t think that mental health is spoken about enough.
“The message of the mission is not complicated and that is the point of it. We are not experts and don’t expect people to be experts its just about being present there in the moment when someone is in need of help.
He added: “I want to talk about it to the point that people get sick of hearing about it. The world is depressing at the moment and we are not identifying the problems or solving them.”
A simple call from his mum changed his life when he found himself at a dark moment and while his partner and “pillar of strength” was at work.
Jordan said: “If I could encourage one person today to take two seconds of their time to message someone, please do, it could change their life.”
When life is difficult, Samaritans are here to listen – day or night, 365 days a year. You can call them for free on 116 123 or visit samaritans.org