Leeds candlelit vigil held for students lost to suicide

Maggie and Bob Abrahart have been campaigning since their daughter, Natasha, took her own life in 2018

Families of university students who lost their lives to suicide honoured their loved ones at a candlelit vigil in Leeds on Saturday.

The event was led by Bob Abrahart, whose daughter Natasha, 20, took her own life in April 2018.

On the day she died, Natasha, who had social anxiety, had been due to give a presentation at Bristol University.

Dr Abrahart said while the vigil was in remembrance of those lives lost, "we also want our voices to be heard".

The event took place in Millennium Square in Leeds

The event took place in Millennium Square at 19:00 GMT and was organised by the ForThe100 campaign, of which Dr Abrahart is a member, along with his wife Maggie and 24 other bereaved families.

The group aimed to draw attention to what it said was the need for a statutory duty of care in higher education, which its members believed would prevent many such suicides.

The vigil comes after a High Court ruling last month which found the university had failed to make "reasonable adjustments" for Ms Abrahart.

Despite this, the judge refused to say whether or not universities owed their students a duty of care, saying a ruling on the issue was "not necessary".

However, ForThe100 campaigners believe a statutory duty of care would require all universities to act with reasonable care and skill so as to avoid harm being caused to students.

Families gathered to spread a message of hope

As part of the event in Leeds, the group said it wanted to offer messages of hope.

Before the event, Dr Abrahart said he would speak at the vigil along with his wife and their son Duncan.

"Last year, we held three vigils at the same time in London, Edinburgh and Bristol," he said.

"This year, we are all getting together in one place."

The service served two purposes, he added.

Natasha Abrahart took her own life on the day she was due to give a presentation at the University of Bristol

"We are obviously remembering our children so they are not forgotten, but we also want our voices to be heard.

"It is part of us getting people to listen to us, and to learn from what we are saying."