West Yorkshire volunteers urged to become suicide prevention champions as area's rate remains above average

The initiative will see resources rolled out to help volunteers raise awareness and challenge the stigma associated with suicide.

It comes ahead of World Suicide Prevention Day on September 10 and it is hoped that the campaign will help to lower the suicide rate in the region.

The West Yorkshire Health and Care Partnership, which is behind the scheme, has urged people to sign up. They will be given access to the latest suicide prevention news, resources, support services and information, so they can help spread the word and encourage suicide prevention.

Signing up takes minutes, as participants watch a 20-minute suicide awareness video, by the Zero Suicide Alliance, and make a pledge about how they plan to promote suicide prevention.

Volunteers can sign up at the suicide prevention campaign’s website.

The partnership hopes to recruit 281 suicide prevention champions by the end of the year – one for each of the 281 people whose deaths were registered as suicides in West Yorkshire coroners’ courts in 2021.

Richard James, acting consultant in public health and lead for the partnership's suicide prevention programme, said: “We need everyone’s help in reducing suicides. We want all citizens of West Yorkshire to know that they can do something to change the status quo, even if this is as simple as putting up a poster at work.

“We know that if thousands of people across West Yorkshire make a small change, collectively we can bring our suicide rate down. Suicide deaths are preventable deaths and you never know when you might have the opportunity to step in, and say something which just might save a life.”

The most recent figures show West Yorkshire continues to have a higher suicide rate than England as a whole, with a rolling three-year rate in registered suicide deaths of 13.2 per 100,000 people in 2021, compared to 10.4 per 100,000 nationally. In 2020, West Yorkshire’s three-year rate was 12.6.

The suicide prevention champions campaign is not about dealing with people in crisis or offering mental health support but about learning when and where to signpost as well as taking action – through pledges – to champion suicide prevention.

Rob Webster CBE, CEO for NHS West Yorkshire Integrated Care Board and CEO Lead for the partnership, who lost his 32-year-old brother to suicide in 2003, was the first West Yorkshire suicide prevention champion to sign up.

He said: “This is an important campaign and I would urge all to consider signing up. Now is the time to act on this issue – we can all make a difference by becoming a suicide prevention champion and tackling the stigma. By doing the Zero Suicide Alliance training and feeling confident to have those conversations and knowing where to send someone who does need support, you will be helping to save lives.

“We know that every person lost to suicide impacts many others and that impact lasts forever. It certainly is the case for me and my family. Reducing suicides in West Yorkshire remains one of our 10 big ambitions, as set out in our strategy and joint forward plan. Together we can make a difference.”