World Suicide Prevention Day: what we're doing

Sunday 10 September is World Suicide Prevention Day, a day when organisations campaign to raise awareness of suicide prevention.

As part of the University's Suicide Prevention and Response Plan, we want staff and students to feel empowered to tackle the stigma and myths surrounding suicide, and to become suicide prevention advocates, so that everyone can be supported and create a suicide-safer community.

We strongly encourage staff to book onto the Suicide First Aid courses available via HR Organiser. The courses aim to:

• help you better understand and raise awareness of suicide and suicide prevention
• give you the knowledge and tools to understand that suicide is one of the most preventable deaths
• equip you with some basic skills that can help someone with thoughts of suicide to stay safe

The Shining a Light on Suicide organisation offers fantastic resources on how you can support someone who may be feeling suicidal and also seek support for your own wellbeing.

The Samaritans campaign for World Suicide Prevention Day provides guidance for starting a conversation with someone that you might be worried about, and highlights the importance of language and becoming a better listener.

Following the National Student Survey (NSS) which closed in April 2023, we donated £1 per completed survey to our chosen charity for this year, PAPYRUS Prevention of Young Suicide. The total money raised was over £3,000 and will go towards their brilliant work preventing young suicide, and the promotion of positive emotional health and wellbeing in young people.

There is also lots of information on the staff webpages on how you can support students who are experiencing or are at risk of a mental health crisis, including Helping Distressed Students – A Guide for Staff.