About Start the Conversation

Hello! I'm Rose Rowkins (previously Allett, pronouns she/they) - the face behind Start the Conversation.

​

​I'm on a mission to help people overcome fears and find the words to talk about suicide. I know that talking can save lives. It saved mine.

​

I believe we are all capable of learning to have a brave, bold life-saving conversation - and that we all must learn these skills, because most people who die by suicide haven't spoken to a mental health professional in the year before their death. 

​

So it falls to us - as parents, friends, managers, community leaders, caring humans - to learn how to spot the signs and to reach IN. To START THE CONVERSATION about suicide.

​

Suicide is everyone's business. 

 

More about me

 

I'm an integrative humanistic counsellor, sun-worshipper, mum of one, keen yogi and singer, and I live in (and love) Brighton, UK.

 

In case you hadn't realised already, I'm also a passionate, experienced, international trainer of suicide prevention skills:

​

• Co-creator of powerful accessible training Talking about Suicide: Ten Tools (TAS10 with Ann Feloy - delivered to over 7,000 people and on the curriculum at several UK Medical Schools.

• LivingWorks Master Trainer, having delivered 70+ ASIST workshops across both hemispheres

• I was in the first ever cohort of Suicide First Aid tutors, and created first participant handbook and redesigned the tutor manual.

• I have created bespoke suicide prevention training for clients including Westminster Abbey and Wandsworth Prison.

 

Since 2015, I have taught 1000s of people around the world (face-to-face and online) the skills and confidence to talk about suicide, including GPs, teachers, managers, HR teams, counsellors, youth workers, police officers, veterans, firefighters.

 

Other things I have done

​​

• Co-founded Speak Their Name - the UK's memorial site for loved ones lost to suicide.

• Led the award-winning Brighton day of the inaugural Baton of Hope 2023 tour with a kickass team. Check out this short film!

• Managed the innovative, award-winning Safe Space, amongst other mental health and youth projects

• Drove and worked my way across the Sahara Desert in a campervan

• Created resources for parents worried about their child’s self-harm 

• Coached Vietnam veterans in the Australian bush on how to listen

• Coordinated a team of teenagers to teach new doctors (through realistic roleplay!) how to communicate more effectively with their teenage patients who are self-harming or thinking of suicide.