Special concert for man, 31, who took his own life

Just over 10 years ago, 31-year-old Alex Young was living and working in London and seemed incredibly happy with his life going to plan.

Alex, originally from Ipswich, had given no indication he was feeling otherwise when he took his own life, according to his father Sir Nick Young.

For the 10th anniversary of his son's death, Sir Nick is commemorating it with a special concert at St Joseph's College in Ipswich in aid of a suicide prevention charity this Saturday evening.

Composer Ben Ponniah has written a new piece for it, and it was only after approaching him that Sir Nick found out he went to school with Alex.

"He was tall, good looking, excellent at school, a great and passionate rugby player," Sir Nick told BBC Radio Suffolk's Sarah Lilley.

"He loved music, had loads and loads of friends, really didn't have a day of depression or sadness in his life.

"He was just a great boy to be with and very popular as a result."

Sir Nick said having no warning of Alex's feelings had been incredibly difficult to cope with.

"Everything was going well for him, he was doing really well at work, his boss thought he was great, his mates at work thought he was great," he continued.

"He had a rugby game that [coming] weekend, he was playing golf, he seemed to be really well set up in life... it was all happening for him, we don't know what went wrong."

According to suicide prevention charity Papyrus, suicide is the main cause of death in young people under the age of 35 in the UK.

In 2022, 1,769 suicides were in that age category and about three-quarters of them were boys or young men.

Sir Nick, while thinking about how to mark the anniversary, said when singing in his choir, he came across a piece of music by composer Ben Ponniah that was "fantastic".

He approached him to ask if he would compose a piece of music in Alex's memory, to which he agreed, and Ponniah then explained he had actually gone to primary school in Ipswich with Alex.

"It was a great feeling and Ben has just gone to so much trouble to get this music right," said Sir Nick.

"We haven't heard it yet, but he talked to us, he talked to our friends, he saw pictures, he talked to Alex's two brothers.

"He really went a long way and has incorporated bits of our life and Alex's life in this piece of music, which is called Carry Me Home."

Sir Nick said on Thursday about 350 tickets had been sold so far with proceeds going towards Papyrus.

The piece of music will be performed by the Ipswich Chamber Choir and representatives from Papyrus will also be in attendance.

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