Standing together on World Suicide Prevention Day
Today, on World Suicide Prevention Day, we stand alongside our communities to raise awareness, challenge stigma, and reaffirm our commitment to saving lives. At our Trust, we believe every life matters. By working hand in hand with our partners, we are committed to ensuring that anyone in crisis can access the right help, at the right time.
Our Chief Executive, Vanessa Ford, shares:
“Too many lives are lost to suicide that could have been saved with timely, compassionate care. Our London mental health strategy puts prevention and patient centred care at the heart of everything we do, whether it’s through expanding 24/7 community support through new neighbourhood mental health centres, closing gaps and offering holistic care for people with substance use needs, transforming inpatient care, or expanding mental health support for our young people in schools. The London mental health system is stepping up to ensure no one falls through the cracks, we want everyone to receive appropriate, person-centred care, in a timely way, when and where they need it.”
Hold the Hope: Putting lived experience at the heart of suicide prevention
A key part of our work is a suicide prevention collaboration between our Trust and lived experience members, called Hold the Hope. Dedicated volunteers with personal
experience of suicide deliver life-saving training programmes to local schools, the British Transport Police, and other organisations across South West London and beyond.
For volunteers like X, these sessions have had a profound impact on both their life and the people they support: “The reason I joined this project was because I wanted to feel less ashamed of being suicidal. The way that we save lives is by talking about what makes us anxious, what we fear, so we can get the right support.”
The training, delivered alongside Justine Trippier, the Trust’s joint suicide prevention lead, aim to spark open conversations, raise awareness, and ensure communities are better equipped to support those in crisis. Talking about the project, Justin said: “There has never been a more important time to talk about suicide. Simple actions, like speaking openly and compassionately, can make all the difference, and I am grateful to our volunteers for sharing their stories to inspire hope.”
Dr Sean Whyte, Deputy Medical Director, also added: “Hold the Hope is different because it’s written with the insight of people personally touched by suicide. It isn’t an outsider’s perspective. It goes beyond teaching a skill to share an intensely human experience, and that makes it a work of art.”
Learn more about Hold the Hope and access our Trust’s suicide prevention strategy here
