Bereaved wife from Chinnor to keep fighting for better family support after suicide
Mimi Conder is determined to help others after the lack of support she received
A bereaved wife from Chinnor says she will continue to push for better support for families affected by suicide after handing her petition to the government.
Mimi Conder launched the campaign named 'Jason's Law' after losing her husband Jason in September 2024.
She said she and her family were left without guidance from authorities during the aftermath of his death.
Her petition – calling for bereaved families to be given a dedicated police family liaison officer – gathered nearly 5,000 signatures before being delivered to 10 Downing Street.
Despite the petition closing short of the threshold needed for an official government response, Mimi said the campaign is far from over.
“We’re not just going to say the petition’s closed and leave it there,” she said. “We’re doing this for everyone who has been left by themselves after losing someone to suicide and to ensure the government do respond because this needs to be brought to its attention.”
She said families bereaved by suicide currently receive little guidance about what happens next, including the investigation and inquest process.
“You’re already going through the most traumatic time of your life,” she said. “You can hardly think about making yourself dinner or getting out of bed, let alone navigating processes you’ve never even heard of before.”
She said the situation contrasts sharply with other sudden deaths, such as fatal road traffic collisions or homicide, where families are automatically assigned a police family liaison officer to guide them through the process.
“We didn’t understand why there was such an inequality,” she said. “Just because it’s a suicide shouldn’t mean families shouldn’t get the same support as others who have experienced a tragic loss.”
Mimi said the aim is to ensure every family bereaved by suicide is automatically offered a liaison officer to explain procedures, provide updates and help them through what can be a confusing and overwhelming system.
She said the campaign has received strong support since it was launched.
“People have courageously reached out to me with their own stories about how they were left,” she said. "I've spoken to several charities and organisations and the feedback that I've gotten is that they're in complete agreement something needs to be done."
She also believes better guidance could help avoid further tragedies.
"You're already at a higher of taking your own life if you've lost someone to suicide. So by having this there, hopefully you're preventing losing another person, " she said.
Mimi is now working with politicians, charities and local services to push the campaign forward.
Meetings are planned with Thames Valley Police to discuss whether changes could be made locally while national reform is pursued.
“We know it won’t happen overnight,” she said. “But we’re going to keep creating awareness and keep pushing until it gets to where it needs to be.”
The campaign is backed by Henley and Thame MP Freddie van Mierlo and Liz Twist, who chairs the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Suicide and Self-Harm Prevention.
Freddie van Mierlo said: "There should be that better level of support. It's not good enough to just provide a leaflet and expect a family who's going through a very traumatic and grief-stricken process to navigate a level of bureaucracy on top of that.
"We'll continue to pursue this through whatever parliamentary mechanisms are available to us; whether that's a Private Members' Bill, further petitions or further letters and engagement with the government."