West Ham United are proud to highlight the Club’s ongoing partnership with R;pple Suicide Prevention on World Suicide Prevention Day.
Lifelong Hammers fan Alice Hendy set up R;pple Suicide Prevention after losing her only sibling, Josh, in November 2020 to suicide at just 21 years of age. Josh had been researching techniques to take his own life via harmful internet searches.
R;pple Suicide Prevention ensures that more help and support is given to individuals searching for harmful content online. The tool intercepts harmful content relating to self-harm and/or suicide through innovative technology to ensure all users searching for harmful content online are presented with an opportunity of hope that things can and will get better.
R;pple has won 24 awards in the mental health and innovation space and intercepted over 12,500 genuine harmful online searches.
Speaking to West Ham TV, Alice said: “Josh was a typical cheeky chappy. He was the life and soul of the party, and if you were to line him up with his mates he’d be the last person that you’d think was severely struggling with his mental health.
“He absolutely loved going to watch West Ham with me. We’d both have our shirts on and we’d both go into the pub before the game. He loved West Ham, he loved coming along and singing the songs.
“You never think this is going to happen to you and your family, unfortunately until it does. It’s almost like a bomb went off and you’re there to pick up the pieces. Probably the worst thing that ever happened to me in my life is that Josh decided to take his own life.”
Alice could not believe there were not safeguards in place to protect individuals who make internet searches like the ones her brother did, inspiring the creation of R;pple.
“I couldn’t believe that there was nothing out there to intervene or interrupt anybody out there who is struggling and conducting similar searches on the internet. With that in mind, I’ve created R;pple, a browser extension that also works through Wi-Fi networks.
“Once deployed, if anyone goes on the internet and searches for anything to do with the topic of self-harm or suicide, then R;pple will intervene and provide that person with a message of hope and signpost them to a selection of mental health resources that they can access.
“We’ve been approached by 26 individuals directly that told us that they are still here because Ripple intervened at their most vulnerable point.”
Since October 2021, R;pple has been implemented across West Ham United, with the Club one of many businesses using the suicide prevention tool alongside the likes of QBE Insurance, Manchester Airport and Save the Children.
In utilising the tool, West Ham United became the first professional football Club to do so, a fact Alice is particularly proud of.
“To have West Ham as the first football Club to deploy this tool is special to me, and it’s also poignant given West Ham is my brother’s Club and my Club. It’s deployed to all of the staff and promoted within the Academy.
“I hope more clubs will follow in West Ham’s footsteps.”
How to download R;pple
- Individuals, Parents and Guardians - download R;pple at home, for free, here
- Schools, College, Universities - liaise with your Wellbeing and IT teams and inform them that R;pple is a browser extension that can be deployed free, en masse (FAQs)
- Businesses and Corporates - liaise with your Wellbeing and IT teams and inform them that R;pple is a browser extension that can be deployed en masse for a subscription fee (FAQs)
