A father whose son took his own life is campaigning for suicide watch to be integrated into school safeguarding policies.

Stuart Falconer, 46, from St Albans, founder of The OLLIE Foundation, gave a speech to the members of Watford Rotary Club to stress the importance of recognising and helping vulnerable teenagers.

On behalf of Watford Rotary Club, past president, Rabi Martins, said that the club will do whatever it can to support the charity.

Rabi Martins said: “It was quite a sobering experience. The main message that came across from Stuart is that in this society, suicide is such a danger.

“It’s not a bad thing to talk about, it’s about taking away the stigma. No school includes protection against suicide in their safeguarding policies, we need to get the education system on board."

Mr Falconer lost his son, Morgan, after he took his own life on May 5, 2015. Following the death of his son, Mr Falconer set up The OLLIE Foundation with aims to prevent other young adults committing suicide.

“We plan on organising a function to raise awareness of The OLLIE Foundation and spreading the message across other rotary groups.”

Suicide is the biggest killer of people under 45 in the country and teenagers are at highest risk.