UOK Brighton & Hove alongside our partners Rethink Mental Illness and Grassroots Suicide Prevention hosted a webinar aimed at ‘Staying Safe Together: A Spotlight on Communities and Practical Resources’ on 10th September 2025 – World Suicide Prevention Day.
The webinar was set out with the purpose of encouraging individuals, communities, and professionals to engage with the new Staying Safe from Suicide guidelines and spotlight some of the communities most at risk. This included neurodivergent people, people within the Criminal Justice System and Gypsy, Roma, Travellers. Together we inspired action and explored how you and/ or your organisation can begin putting the guidelines into practice – because suicide is everyone’s responsibility.
The session was chaired by Richard Tandoh, Expert by Experience at Rethink Mental Illness joined by:
Psychosocial Support & Safety Planning – Rethink Mental Illness (Lourdes Colclough, Wendy Robinson, Gemma Besant)
Neurodiversity & Suicide Prevention – Grassroots Suicide Prevention (Alex Harvey)
Suicide in Gypsy, Roma & Traveller Communities – Friends, Families and Travellers (James O’Neill)
Suicide Prevention in the Prison Service – Rethink Mental Illness (Natasha Sinclair, Bethany Wilson)
Resources from the webinar:
The recording of the webinar is available here
Slides used by the speakers are available here:
UK Mental Health and Crisis Support Services document:
Resources for individuals:
Apps
Grassroots Suicide Prevention – Stay Alive app
Stay Alive is a free, award-winning suicide prevention app, packed full of useful information and tools to help you stay safe in crisis. It includes a safety plan, reasons for living, and easy access to national helplines and local services. The app can also be used to support someone you’re worried about.
Newly launched: The App is for anyone bereaved by suicide, no matter the relationship or how long ago the loss was.
Here are some of the key features of the App:
- Exercises and programmes to help with sleep, anxiety, and stress reduction.
- A journaling feature with prompts specifically designed for grief.
- A space to find book and podcast reviews related to suicide bereavement.
- A daily mood tracker to help you understand your feelings.
- Your very own personalised toolkit where you can save your favourite exercises.
Grassroots Suicide Prevention – Neurodiversity Hub
The Neurodiversity Hub brings together lived experience, practical guidance, and tailored resources to support suicide prevention for neurodivergent people. It offers insights for professionals, families, and individuals, helping to make support more inclusive and accessible across a wide range of neurodiverse experiences.
Resources to download
Resources for professionals:
- Suicide Prevention Services + Crisis services Stay with us: preventing suicide together | Westminster City Council & Suicide prevention | Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. It includes crisis support
- Talking faith in suicide prevention — Produced by FaithAction (A primer to support faith-informed conversations about suicide prevention and postvention; for frontline staff)
- NHS England » Staying safe from suicide
Supporting someone with suicidal thoughts
- How to Support Someone with Suicidal Thoughts by Rethink Mental Illness- details on how to support someone with suicidal thoughts
- How to support someone who is feeling suicidal | MindHow to support someone who is feeling suicidal | Mind
- Supporting someone with suicidal thoughts | Samaritans
- Working-together-to-prevent-suicide-in-the-NHS-workforce–a-national-suicide-prevention-toolkit-for-England.pdf
Helplines:
- Papyrus support for professionals who experience disclosures of suicidal thoughts: HOPELINE247 on 0800 068 4141, text 88247 or email pat@papyrus-uk.org (available 24/7 all year around).
Training:
- Prison and Suicide Awareness Training – Prison and Suicide Awareness Training
- KCW training delivered by Every Life Matters – Kensington and Chelsea and Westminster | Eventbrite
- Training Home – Grassroots Suicide Prevention (prevent-suicide.org.uk)
Zero Suicide Alliance:
- Suicide Awareness Training – Free online suicide awareness training from the Zero Suicide Alliance
- Autism and Suicide Awareness Training – Autism and Suicide Awareness Training
- Veteran Suicide Awareness Training – Veterans and Suicide Awareness Training
- University Student Suicide Awareness Training – University Students and Suicide Awareness Training
Stories of Hope
Left behind – Peter and Janine’s story
Read more stories of hope here:
“When we see the sun, there is always hope” – Hilary’s story
“The extraordinary power of love” – Ylang’s story
Rethink Mental Illness – In Memory of Gem Fernandez
Reaching for the Ropes: a film about Mental Health in Gypsy, Roma, and Traveller Communities
Thank you to all who joined us. We are committed to keeping the conversation going around suicide prevention in particular and good mental health in general.
