Warwickshire County Cricket Club has introduced potentially life-saving software across its Edgbaston stadium IT systems to intercept searches relating to self-harm or suicide.
The Club has partnered with R;pple Online Safety to deploy its crisis intervention tool on more than 100 staff laptops and throughout the ground’s wi-fi connectivity.
When a user searches forharmful content, R;pple discreetly intervenes, guiding them through a breathingexercise and signposting to free, 24/7 mental health support services andresources.
Warwickshire is the firstcounty club in England & Wales to adopt the technology on both laptops andwi-fi.
Edgbaston Safeguarding Manager Tom Cunningham-Smith, said: “This is a subject close to my heart. Before joining Warwickshire I worked in child protection teams for the police and witnessed the tragedy of child self-harm and suicide too often.
“We’re working in partnershipwith R;pple and our official IT provider Intercity to help protect staff andyoungsters in our Academy from accessing suicide or self-harm material.
“There is no evidence that suchphrases have been searched for on our systems. That’s not why we’re introducingit. We know that suicide is the number one cause of death for young people sowe want to do all we can to help children or young adults who may benefit frommental health support.”
Joanne Santos from Intercity – Warwickshire’s official IT partner – said: “The safeguarding tool will been abled on all corporate devices and across Edgbaston’s 170 Wi-Fi access points for full coverage in and around the stadium. This will help us to safeguard colleagues, but also the wider community of fans.”
“Intercity is proud to partner on this scheme to support workplace mental health and help spread the message that people are not alone at the time of crisis.
“The R;pple tool integrates seamlessly as a browser extension or onto Wi-Fi networks, offering invisible yet effective protection without collecting personal data.
“It’s important we do what wecan to help keep people safe.”
R;pple was founded by AliceHendy MBE after she tragically lost her brother Josh to suicide. The21-year-old had researched techniques to take his own life through harmfulinternet searches. To date, the R;pple tool has intercepted more than 110,000harmful searches worldwide, saving countless lives.
Craig Butler, R;pple’s NetworkIntegration Manager, said: “At R;pple, we're committed to saving lives byproviding an additional layer of protection to those in crisis. Every harmfulsearch intercepted is an opportunity to guide someone toward the help theyneed.
“We're proud to partner withWarwickshire County Cricket Club and Intercity to foster a safer environmentwithin the cricket community.”
