Our first Suicide Prevention Advisory Network (SPAN) meeting of 2023 saw nearly 100 people join online to hear from our guest speakers and learn what more they can do to reduce suicide in West Yorkshire.
It was a packed agenda at the March meeting of the West Yorkshire Health and Care Partnership Suicide Prevention Programme’s SPAN network, which meets quarterly with the aim of sparking more suicide prevention action at work, in our homes and in communities.
A total of 91 people joined throughout the morning to hear from guest speakers including Steve Phillip, founder and director of The Jordan Legacy, a suicide prevention not-for-profit organisation set up in memory of Steve’s son Jordan, who took his own life in December 2019.
‘From that moment my world changed forever,’ he told the meeting, before going on to explain why he set up The Jordan Legacy and its work to move towards a ‘zero suicide society’.
He said, as a society and in our workplaces, we can all learn to understand that suicide “will not impact everyone but can impact anyone” and the need for education, to recognise the signs that someone might be at risk and to implement actions to help keep someone safe.
“We have to do better,” he said.
View Steve’s slides here or watch his presentation to SPAN in our webinar.
Second on the agenda was Monica Hawley, media adviser for the Samaritans, who talked about the dangers of sensationalised reporting in the media, when covering suicide deaths, and the links between this and increased suicide rates.
But she also highlighted the importance of positive stories in the media – featuring people sharing their mental health journeys or overcoming personal crises – as having a “beneficial” effect of encouraging others to seek help.
Visit the Samaritans website's media guidance section for more information.
The final speaker of the morning was Leigh Staunton, Leeds Mindful Employer co-ordinator, who spoke out the importance of raising awareness of suicide prevention in the workplace and the key role of employers.
Highlighting the need for such action in the workplace – with one third of our lives spent in work - Leigh highlighted the practical tools Leeds Mindful Network offers employers, to “drive positive change”, create an open environment and reduce stigma.
While the network is Leeds-based, there are lots of work which can be replicated elsewhere.
View Leigh’s slides here or watch her presentation to SPAN in our webinar.
Further resources mentioned in the SPAN meeting include:
- A film about our Suicide Prevention Programme's staff suicide work to date.
- Mindful Employer's ten step toolkit for employers, and how to join the Leeds network.
- Our Check In With Your Mate campaign resources - all free to use and share.
- West Yorkshire Suicide Bereavement Service, which can support workplaces too.
- The resources section of our website, which includes resources for employers to help create open culture at work, such as the CIPR guide to support internal communications re suicide. It also includes our SPAN webinars.
- Our Staff Check In campaign and its resources.
- Our webinar featuring Dr Siobhan O’Dwyer and her SPAN talk on suicide and homicide suicide in unpaid carers
- Our language guide on what to say/what not to say around suicide
The next SPAN meeting is scheduled for Tuesday June 6th from 9am to noon (agenda currently being honed). Anyone who wants to join network, and receive invites to future meetings as well as a monthly newsletter on suicide prevention work in West Yorkhire, can email joanna.wardill@nhs.net.