Why we built Sheffield Suicide Support
In August 2018 we were approached by Magid Magid, who wanted to do something to mark World Suicide Prevention Day. We were excited to do something for an issue which is affecting so many people in our city.
As a mental health charity we have some understanding of suicide, but we aren’t experts, and we know there’s already a lot happening here. What we do know a bit about is co-production: working with people with lived experience of issues to talk, bring together ideas, and make plans.
So we ran an event on 10th September, in partnership with Magid, and local charities Chilypep and Rainbow Heron. It was a really positive day because although we were talking about a difficult topic, everyone in the room wanted to help, to do something.
We brought together all the feedback into one document, and started looking into funding to implement some of the ideas. With support from Director of Public Health Greg Fell, Jo Rutter, and South Yorkshire and Bassetlaw Integrated Care System, we found a funding pot to build a suicide prevention signposting website at the end of last year.
At this point we began our co-production process, and we ran two workshops bringing together people who have experienced suicidal thoughts, and who have supported other people who have been suicidal. It was massively helpful to get this feedback, these ideas, and talk through what form the website should take, so thank you to everyone who gave their time on this difficult subject.
Since the workshops, we’ve been collaborating with our fantastic digital partners Hive to get the website off the ground. It’s a signposting site: a simple website where people can easily find other information, support and resources. We’re really pleased with what we’ve managed to build on a fairly small budget, and we really hope you like it too.
You can find the new website at: https://www.sheffieldsuicidesupport.co.uk/
