Family to host fundraiser following teenage daughter’s suicide

The family of a 16 year old girl from Morecambe who died by suicide earlier this year have organised a fundraising event to help young people face mental health conditions and look after their wellbeing.

Sian Waterhouse passed away in February 2018 following a long battle with anxiety and depression. In the wake of her death Sian’s parents, Paul and Ann Waterhouse, and her family and friends have organised the ‘Shine for Sian’ fundraising event which will take place at The Alhambra Club in Morecambe on Friday 22nd June.

The aim of the event is to open up conversations about mental health conditions amongst young people. The event will also raise funds for leading mental health charity Lancashire Mind. The charity works with young people across the county in schools and local communities with the vision of achieving mental wellbeing for all.

Paul said: “Sadly our daughter Sian took her own life earlier this year and we don’t want others to go through what she did. Sian was a very caring person and from a really early age she always wanted to help others. As she grew older she developed low iron and blood pressure resulting in her fainting a lot. She had to miss school and when she returned she had anxiety about it and this affected her work.

As her fainting got worse, her time off school increased and so did her anxiety, she also started to get depressed. She had to deal with some bullying too and social media didn’t help matters either. Sian tried to combat all of this and did reach out for help. She was doing really well for a while but unfortunately, after her 16th birthday, she slowly started to feel low again and this time we were unable to help.”

Shine for Sian will include music from the Ska Foundation from Manchester, Lancaster based punk band PNUK, The Bass Race Crew, who are also Lancaster based, and a number of DJs. There will also be a chill out area. Local art will be auctioned off and there will be a merchandise stall selling badges, t-shirts, polo shirt, mugs and also a raffle with prizes including a tandem skydive, flights at ifly indoor skydiving, Car re-mapping, a weekend break and more.

Paul added: “We hope that the local community will join us at this event and celebrate Sian’s life. We want to raise awareness and funds to help other young people across Lancashire. Sian was such a caring and helpful person that it only seems right that we try to help others in her memory.”

Lancashire Mind Fundraising Co-ordinator Fabienne Clough said: “Sadly, mental health conditions amongst young people are increasing which means that it is important, now more than ever, to ensure young people across Lancashire have the support they need; whether that be a safe place to talk or an understanding of how to look after their wellbeing. Working with young people both in a preventative and reactive capacity is high on our agenda. We are doing all we can to reach as many young people as we can to ensure they have access to the services they need to look after their mental health.”

“On behalf of the charity I would like to thank Sian’s family. We simply could not carry out the work we do without the support of people like Sian’s family who are raising funds for Lancashire Mind.”

The family will also hold a Family Fun Day on the 23rd June at The Park Hotel, Regent Rd, Morecambe. This will start at 12pm and will run all day. It is free entry but a suggested donation of £1 per person would be gratefully accepted. There will be a bouncy castle, tombola,
Raffle tickets, Football cards with great cash prizes and various other stalls. There will be live music from various local artists, DJs and hot food, alcoholic drinks, soft drinks and tea’s and coffees will be available. There will also be an all day soul room playing Northern soul and soul classics. Again this will be free entry and a suggested donation of £1 per person would be gratefully received.

Tickets for Shine for Sian are available from See Tickets. Search online for Shine for Sian or pay on the day. The event starts at 7pm and last entry is 9pm. The event is open to the public and under 18s.

Venue address: The Alhambra (Carleton) 56 Marine Road, Morecambe LA4 4EU