Danny Cram Foundation set up in memory of Jersey skater
Almost £13,000 has been donated to set up a foundation to help young adults with their mental health in memory of a Jersey skater.Danny Cram was 25 when he took his own life in December after struggles with his mental health.Friends and family have set up the Danny Cram Foundation to provide more support in the island for young adults and their families.Some of his friends said "everyone loves him" and "his personality was unmatched" with his mum Louise Cram adding he was "a kind and courageous soul".
Eddie da Rocha was a close friend of Danny's and helped set up the fundraising.He said Danny "was the most unique character, very outgoing" and "Danny liked helping others more than himself".Mr da Rocha added: "Danny will be the type of boy who will just sit there and listen to you and he would just let you talk and I'm sure he would be really proud of what we're doing."He also said "you just realise that Jersey doesn't have the tools required to help young adults with mental health problems" and "I think it's a bigger issue that we think".
Need help? If you have been affected by this story the BBC Action Line web page features a list of organisations which are ready to provide support and advice.
Jersey's government said it expected to publish the island's Suicide Prevention Strategy by the end of the first quarter of the year.The latest figures from the Mental Health Profile found between 2018-2020 there were the age-standardised mortality rates (ASMR) for suicide in Jersey of 9.3 deaths per 100,000 people.The rate in England over the same period of time was 10.4 per 100,000.Three-quarters of all suicides in Jersey involved men (72%).The next Mental Health Profile is due to be published at the end of April and there is a list of support services available for those in need.
The governing body of skateboarding in Jersey, Skateboard Jersey (SJ), paid tribute to Danny and said they were working to better support others.Phil Minty, from the SJ, said "at first there was an overwhelming sense of grief" as Danny's death had "a serious impact" on the skating community.He added: "I hope the need for change is now recognised and it's dealt with appropriately."SJ is working with the Ben Raemers Foundation, which is a UK charity that was set up following the suicide of professional skater Ben Raemers in 2019.
'Tragic loss'
Susie Crome is one of the co-founders of the Ben Raemers Foundation and is planning to come to Jersey to help the local skating community.She said they would teach first aid suicide training and "give an to introduction to understanding suicide and how to have conversations around suicide"."It's about recognising what support systems people have already got and how we can build on those but also it's devastating that it had to come from a tragic loss," Ms Crome added.The foundation aims to help the skateboarding community develop the skills needed to support each other to understand and address mental health.
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