The grieving mother of a talented student who took his own life hopes his legacy will be one of better mental health support in schools and universities.

NHS volunteer Robbie Curtis suffered spells of low mood and suicidal thoughts during the first lockdown, before starting treatment at the Priory Wellbeing Centre in Canterbury last July.

Over the following weeks, the much-loved 22-year-old assured his mother, Lesley, that his condition was improving.

But on August 17, the geography graduate was found dead in a strip of woodland behind Dickens Avenue in Canterbury.

“Robbie was very kind, modest, intelligent and sporty. He was very talented,” Lesley said.

“He was very popular and had a gift of picking people up and supporting them when they were down.

“Robbie realised he needed to get help and I think he was quite frightened of what was happening to him.

“He had a couple of short bouts of depression during university, but he was generally a very happy boy, and that’s why it’s so shocking.

“If it can happen to Robbie, it can happen to anyone.”

Robbie had disappeared the day before, after telling Lesley he was nipping out of their Barton Mill Road home for a run.

She grew concerned for his safety when he failed to return that afternoon. She phoned his friends asking if they had seen the University of Nottingham student to no avail.

The former Simon Langton Boys’ pupil was only found the next day after police used the Find My Mobile app to locate his Samsung phone.

“He just didn’t come back. I didn’t expect that – I had no idea anything like this was even possible with Robbie,” Lesley recalled.

“His mood was very low and he was quite different that morning – I’d never seen him like that.

“I thought he was going for a run to make himself feel better because that’s what he did – I didn’t think anything else. It’s a parent’s worst nightmare.

“I think lockdown played some part in it.

“I think it was having the same routine every day and not knowing what was going to happen.”

Robbie graduated from Nottingham with a first-class degree, and was set to join the University of Sussex in September, having secured a scholarship to study at the institution.

The gifted poet had been volunteering at the Covid “hot site” behind the University of Kent’s sports centre and previously worked at the King’s School’s Malthouse Theatre in St Stephen’s Road.

A keen traveller, he also harboured ambitions of working in Africa after completing his postgraduate degree.

Lesley added: “I miss him beyond belief.

“I don’t know how he got to the stage that he’d got to – it’s hard for me to understand that.

“Whenever I asked him ‘how are you feeling?’ he would say ‘I’m feeling a bit better’.

“With hindsight, there is no doubt that he was trying to protect me from his dark thoughts.

“He had started to see friends again and socialise, so to me – and I was very close with Robbie – he seemed to be improving.

“It was a shock to me and to everyone.”

An inquest in Maidstone last Wednesday heard how police discovered a suicide note on his laptop and instructions saying he wanted his funds to be split between a number of charities.

DS Renata Johnson told the hearing that subsequent searches of his computer found poetry that “indicated his intention was to take his own life”.

An online referral, completed on July 13, to a psychological health service that revealed “Robbie was depressed and had frequent suicidal thoughts” was also uncovered by officers.

“Friends were aware that he was depressed and a recent post [on social media] suggested he may have gone to the White Cliffs of Dover,” DS Johnson said in a statement read during proceedings.

“[Officers found a document on his laptop] which, when opened, could be inferred to be a goodbye message.

“Access was subsequently gained to the Find My Mobile app, which showed it was behind Dickens Avenue in Canterbury.”

Dr Tim Noble, of the University Medical Centre, revealed that Robbie described having “a history of depression” and low mood, which “had dropped since the Covid lockdown”, during an appointment at the surgery on July 20.

In a statement read on his behalf, the GP added: “He didn’t think he would act on his thoughts.

“The last contact between the GP and Robert was on August 10. He said he had no further suicidal thoughts.”

A therapist, whom Robbie was referred to towards the end of July, also believed the young man’s “risk of harm was low” at that stage.

Post-mortem examinations found that Robbie died from carbon monoxide toxicity.

"He was very popular and had a gift of picking people up and supporting them when they were down.

Senior coroner Patricia Harding recorded Robbie’s death as suicide, adding there was no evidence of third-party involvement.

"He was very popular and had a gift of picking people up and supporting them when they were down..."

Robbie’s mother has launched a charity to help provide improved education about mental health illnesses to schoolchildren and university students.

She hopes R World will act as her son’s legacy, while also saving lives and helping to dispel the stigmas surrounding depression.

“We’re going to provide funding to schools and universities to train teachers in mental health first aid so then they’re qualified to teach students,” Lesley explained.

“This will help people who are struggling to support their peers and help them recognise the signs of mental illness.

“We want to train as many students as possible in mental health first aid.”

Lesley has received help from a number of Robbie’s friends, and has already secured agreements for the charity’s work to be piloted at Simon Langton Boys’ and the University of Nottingham.

“There are a lot of students not coping with lockdown, I’m sure. This work will hopefully prevent mental illness from getting worse,” she added.

“It’s continuing Robbie’s legacy because he was so supportive of others.”

Click here to visit R World.

For more information on why we report on inquests, click here.

For confidential support on an emotional issue, call Samaritans on 116 123 at any time or click here