We think everyone who lives and works in West Yorkshire should complete suicide prevention training.
Lots of different, free training options are available
Use our guide to find out which is right for you.
Answer the questions below to help you understand all the different courses available in West Yorkshire, ranging from a quick 20 minutes on your smartphone to two days in-person.
At the end of the questionnaire, you'll find the training which best meets your needs, along with contact details for the providers.
(To add training to our lists, contact us here).
NB, training providers are independent of the West Yorkshire Health and Care Partnership, and inclusion on this site does not endorse the quality of training provided. For queries, please get in touch with individual training providers.
Do you want the training to be:
Which length of training session do you prefer?
How would you prefer training to be delivered?
| Training | Time | Learning outcomes |
|---|---|---|
| Health Education England We need to talk about suicide | 60-90 mins | E-learning module for volunteers and health care professionals to recognise warning signs of suicide, support patients, and their families. |
| Training | Time | Learning outcomes |
|---|---|---|
|
Zero Suicide Alliance —20 min Suicide Awareness Training. There are also versions tailored for university students and veterans. |
20 mins | How to spot suicide warning signs, how to have a conversation with someone you’re worried about, where to signpost for further support. Certificate on completion. |
|
Film: 'Preventing suicide: Communication, support and follow-up'
|
9 minutes |
Volunteers with lived experience of being impacted by suicide speak directly to staff in health and care organisations about their experiences, to share good practice.
|
| Grassroots Suicide Prevention — Real Talk, interactive film | 15-30 mins | Interactive film where the viewer is guided to make choices to support someone with suicidal thoughts and behaviours. |
| Training | Time | Outcomes | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Papyrus – SP-OT - West Yorkshire Training Sessions | Papyrus UK | Suicide Prevention Charity (papyrus-uk.org) *Usually costs but currently free to certain sectors (inc criminal justice, housing association staff, primary care, DWP staff, debt advisors, union reps and line managers in major employers particularly of men, those working with children and young people.) |
90 mins | To understand the prevalence and impact of suicide, explore language, challenges, recognise signs. | Email chloe.fisher@papyrus-uk.org or Ukaoma.uche@papyrus-uk.org.) |
| Living Well – *offered in Bradford and Craven only* - Suicide Awareness (The Cellar Trust and MyWellbeing College) | 60 mins | Understanding around impacts of suicide, risk factors, warning signs, misconceptions, sharing information about help and support. | Bradford - The Cellar Trust: Training Enquiry Form - The Cellar Trust |
| Papyrus SP-EAK (Suicide Prevention – Explore, Ask, Keep Safe | 3.5 hours |
Covers the attitudes, myths and stigma surrounding suicide and explores the signs that may indicate someone is having thoughts of suicide. We will look at how to have open, safe and sensitive conversations about suicide with a person having thoughts of suicide and how we can support them through the use of a safety plan. |
Book here: West Yorkshire Training Sessions | Papyrus UK | Suicide Prevention Charity (papyrus-uk.org) |
| Training | Time | Learning outcomes | Contact |
|---|---|---|---|
| Living Well – *face-to-face offered in Bradford and Craven only* - Suicide Awareness (The Cellar Trust and MyWellbeing College) | 60 mins | Understanding around impacts of suicide, risk factors, warning signs, misconceptions, sharing information about help and support. | Bradford - The Cellar Trust: Training Enquiry Form - The Cellar Trust |
|
Papyrus – SP-OT - face-to-face *Usually costs but currently free to certain sectors (inc criminal justice, housing association staff, primary care, DWP staff, debt advisors, union reps and line managers in major employers particularly of men, those working with children and young people.) |
90 mins | To understand the prevalence and impact of suicide, explore language, challenges, recognise signs. | Email chloe.fisher@papyrus-uk.org or Ukaoma.uche@papyrus-uk.org. |
| Support to Recovery - Suicide Prevention Training, Money On Your Mind *Kirklees only - free to Kirklees-based community groups, charities, businesses and Kirklees Council staff | 2 hours |
To make sure that everyone knows who to turn to for help with money advice and mental health problems. If you know who can help in your area, you might just be able to stop someone from harming themselves, or even taking their own life. |
Book via
|
| SAFE Talk | 3 hours | Recognise those who may be at risk, ask clearly and openly about thoughts of suicide, connect to local sources of help. |
In Leeds - Community Links (free to all frontline workers in Leeds including volunteers and peer mentors). Email: Training@commlinks.co.uk
In Wakefield - Young Lives Consortium (free to anyone who lives, works or learns in the Wakefield District) |
| Suicide Prevention Training *for Social Prescribing Link workers in West Yorkshire only, provided by West Yorkshire ICB. | 3 hours | Free three-hours course for social prescribers and social prescribing link workers - bespoke training on warning signs and risk factors, how to support pple struggling with suicidal feelings and ways to help tackle stigma. |
Visit Eventbrite link to view dates and book on. For larger groups, or to host the training in your workplace, contact kiah.hamilton-adams@nhs.net. |
|
Papyrus - SP-EAK (Suicide Prevention – Explore, Ask, Keep Safe *Usually costs but currently free to certain sectors (inc criminal justice, housing association staff, primary care, DWP staff, debt advisors, union reps and line managers in major employers particularly of men, those working with children and young people.) |
3.5 hours |
Covers the attitudes, myths and stigma surrounding suicide and explores the signs that may indicate someone is having thoughts of suicide. We will look at how to have open, safe and sensitive conversations about suicide with a person having thoughts of suicide and how we can support them through the use of a safety plan. |
Email chloe.fisher@papyrus-uk.org or Ukaoma.uche@papyrus-uk.org. |
|
Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training (ASIST)
|
Two days | Teaches Suicide First Aid skills to raise confidence and knowledge. Recognised by the Department of Health, ASIST helps identify key elements of an effective suicide safety plan and appreciates the value of improving and integrating suicide prevention resources in the community at large. |
In Leeds - Community Links (free to all frontline workers in Leeds including volunteers and peer mentors). upcoming dates are June 5th/6th. Email: Training@commlinks.co.uk
Papyrus are inviting expressions of interest from specific groups for ASIST training. Complete EOI form here.
|
Leeds (and beyond)
Humans Being runs Survive and Thrive training which focuses on suicide risk prevention and mental health support for men. It's a free online course available to staff and volunteers working in community cafes, food banks and COVID support roles in Leeds.
Leeds Mind provides a range of mental health training. They focus on sharing practical strategies for positive communication and enhancing workplace wellbeing.
Bradford
Mental health charity The Cellar Trust offers courses including Suicide Awareness Training via face-to-face delivery or webinars sessions to anyone across Bradford and Craven.
Calderdale
Unmasked Mental Health services are accessible to everyone, whether you’re an individual having a rough time, or if you’re an employer looking to give something back and look after your employee’s mental health and wellbeing.
Get Fit 4 Mental Wellness is a charity committed to helping people improve their own mental wellness as well as that of others around them. They offer free one day workshops around suicide awareness.
The Charlie Waller Foundation is one of the UK’s most respected mental health charities and offers mental health training and online learning resources.
Wakefield
Young Lives Consortium (YLC) is a membership organisation of Voluntary Community Sector (VCS) groups working with children, young people and families across the Wakefield District. They offer a range of services including training bookable from their platform here. These include safeTALK and ASIST.
Kirklees
Northorpe Hall Child and Family Trust, a charity which works closely with the NHS and Kirklees Council health and care services, has organised a host of free workshops to help and support young people’s mental and emotional health. A series of sessions is on offer for school and college staff and other sessions have been organised for parents and carers.
The charity Papyrus is delivering suicide prevention training to people working in a number of sectors across Kirklees and West Yorkshire. To find out if you qualify and book on, visit West Yorkshire Training Sessions | Papyrus UK | Suicide Prevention Charity (papyrus-uk.org)
Grassroots is a UK leader in suicide prevention. They support people to develop the skills and confidence needed to save lives.
PAPYRUS is a national charity dedicated to the prevention of young suicide. Its education and training programme equips individuals, groups and organisations with the knowledge and skills to better understand suicide and suicide prevention.
STORM Skills Training is the first fully evaluated suicide prevention skills training package for the frontline. STORM also hosts webinars including this latest one exploring the role of primary care in identifying and supporting those at risk or suicide and self-harm:
Suicide Bereavement UK offer Postvention Assisting those Bereaved By Suicide (PABBS) one-day training in Exeter, Manchester and London. They also offer Responding To Suicide (RTS) training for emergency services professionals.
The Zero Suicide Alliance provide a range of awareness training options, which provide a better understanding of the signs to look out for and the skills required to approach someone who is struggling, whether that be through social isolation or suicidal thoughts.
4 Mental Health deliver Connecting with People programmes to meet the differing mental health training needs of a broad spectrum of sectors. This includes the Suicide Assessment Framework E-Tool (SAFETool™) which is included within its Suicide Response modules. For details of courses on offer, look on the 4 Mental Health website here: Courses and Formats | 4 Mental Health.
The Harmless Group is a community interest company for self-harm and suicide prevention. It has a specialist in-house training department called Let's Talk Training which delivers a range of courses, face-to-face or remotely, around self-harm, suicide prevention, awareness, bereavement and mental health.
Health Education England (HEE)
HEE offer suicide prevention training modules via its online portal. You can register for access with an NHS email account, an Athens account or can email the enquiry team to ask for support to explore registering a non-NHS healthcare member of staff: enquiries@e-lfh.org.uk.
One of the courses offered is 'Internet Safety, Suicide and Self-Harm' - a 30-minute session, compiled with the Samaritans, to help anyone across the health, social care and volunteer community who provides support around suicide and self-harm learn how to have conversations around safe internet use.
Real Talk About Suicide
Hosted by Grassroots, a UK leader in suicide prevention, Real Talk About Suicide is a free interactive film that helps guide the viewer, as they make choices to support someone with suicidal thoughts and behaviours.
Small Talk Saves Lives
The Samaritans have developed a campaign called Small Talk Saves Lives. This short film introduces the idea of trusting instincts and starting a conversation.
Suicide Training with Paula and Katie
Dr Paula Baxter and Dr Katie Power from Rochdale Public Health deliver a 1 hour 20 min thorough training session. This covers facts, figures and statistics; suicide prevention and suicide bereavement.
Zero Suicide Alliance
Zero Suicide Alliance provide a range of awareness training options, which provide a better understanding of the signs to look out for and the skills required to approach someone who is struggling, whether that be through social isolation or suicidal thoughts.
West Yorkshire Suicide Bereavement Service
West Yorkshire Suicide Bereavement Service provides training such as for professionals who potentially would be referring to the service or teaching basic skills to helps support someone who has been breaved by suicide. Contact the service to inquire. Call 0113 3055800 or email sbs@leedsmind.org.uk.
Suicide Bereavement UK
Suicide Bereavement UK specialise in the development and delivery of evidence-based suicide bereavement training. This includes 'Postvention Assisting those Bereaved By Suicide' (PABBS) Training.
Grassroots Suicide Prevention
Grassroots is a UK leader in suicide prevention. They support people to develop the skills and confidence needed to save lives and offer Suicide Prevention, Mental Health, and Self-Harm Training Courses.
Zero Suicide Alliance
The Zero Suicide Alliance provide a range of awareness training options, which provide a better understanding of the signs to look out for and the skills required to approach someone who is struggling, whether that be through social isolation or suicidal thoughts.