Launching a whole society blueprint for suicide prevention - The Churchill Fellowship
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Launching a whole society blueprint for suicide prevention

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Themes

We recently brought together Fellows, partners, policymakers, and practitioners in Parliament to launch A Whole Society Blueprint for Suicide Prevention.

Report launch event in Parliament

Nina Smith (CF 2023)
Tim Woodhouse (CF 2023)
Guests attending the event

We are very grateful to everyone who joined us, and to our speakers: Liz Twist MP, Chair of the APPG on Suicide and Self-Harm Prevention; Neil Hudson MP, Shadow DEFRA Minister; Juliet Lyon, a member of the Churchill Fellowship Advisory Council and former Chair of Independent Advisory Panel on Deaths in Custody.

They spoke alongside Nina Smith (CF 2023) and Tim Woodhouse (CF 2023), two of the 28 Churchill Fellows whose work features in the report, who shared how they are putting their ideas into action and reflected on the impact of the Fellowship on their work.

The new report shares practical learning from Churchill Fellows who explored approaches to suicide prevention, intervention, and postvention around the world, and highlights ideas that could help strengthen support across the UK.

The Churchill Fellowship launched its Suicide Prevention Programme in 2019, with generous support from The John Armitage Charitable Trust and in partnership with Samaritans as our Knowledge Partner. The programme supported Fellows to learn from different approaches to preventing suicide and self-harm, and to supporting people bereaved by suicide.

Across the programme, Fellows travelled to and connected with experts from around the world, building relationships and gathering valuable insights from organisations and practitioners. We were delighted to be able to bring so many people together to share that learning.

"Suicide prevention cannot sit with one organisation, one sector, or one part of government alone. It needs shared responsibility, practical action, and continued collaboration."

The report brings together the work of 28 Churchill Fellows, whose research spans healthcare, education, policing, prisons, domestic abuse, asylum systems, bereavement, community settings, media, and public spaces. Across these different areas, their work points to seven connected themes.

  1. Leadership – building connected, accountable, and compassionate systems where suicide prevention is a shared responsibility
  2. Data and insight – improving what is recorded and understood, so that people and communities at risk are not left unseen
  3. Lived experience – making sure people with direct experience shape decisions, services, and support from the start
  4. Stigma and harmful cultures – tackling the silence, shame, and professional or cultural barriers that can stop people seeking help
  5. Education, intervention, and skills training – starting earlier by giving people, organisations, and communities the confidence to recognise and respond to risk
  6. Culturally informed support – creating approaches that reflect people’s identities, communities, and lived realities
  7. Systems built for safety – designing safer environments and stronger support before, during, and after moments of crisis

Taken together, the learning shows that suicide prevention cannot sit with one organisation, one sector, or one part of government alone. It needs shared responsibility, practical action, and continued collaboration.

The launch was an opportunity to share these ideas with people who can take them forward. We hope this whole society blueprint will help turn the Fellows’ learning into practical action, shaping stronger, more connected approaches to suicide prevention across policy, services, and communities in the UK.

Read the full report now

Disclaimer

The views and opinions expressed by any Fellow are those of the Fellow and not of the Churchill Fellowship or its partners, which have no responsibility or liability for any part of them.

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