Grassroots Suicide Prevention

Grassroots Suicide Prevention aims to promote suicide intervention, prevention and postvention so that communities, organisations, services and individuals are ready, willing and able to effectively support someone thinking of suicide.

Our vision is a future where more lives are saved from suicide. We know that most suicides are preventable with the right support and intervention. Therefore, our mission is to empower as many people as possible to help save lives from suicide through connecting, educating, and campaigning for change. We are a charity based in Sussex and have been working both locally and nationally to prevent suicide in our communities for the last 17 years. Lived experience can be found on all levels of our charity, from volunteers through to staff and trustees, and it is a golden thread which informs all our work. We understand the pain of struggling with suicide, the pressures of trying to keep someone safe and the complex emotions, including guilt, shock, and intensive grief after a suicide. We empower individuals, organisations, and communities to develop the skills and confidence to have conversations about suicide through our bespoke and evidence-based suicide prevention training courses. We have trained over 50,000 people in suicide prevention skills since 2006. 70% of people who do our training go on to use the skills they have learnt within 6 months of the course to help support someone at risk of suicide. Building on this strong educational background, our Stay Alive suicide prevention app was launched back in 2014 as the first of its kind in the UK. Stay Alive is a powerful tool designed to provide immediate support and resources to individuals who may be at risk of suicide, and those supporting someone at risk. It offers a range of features, including safety planning, emergency contacts, coping strategies, and resources for mental health support. Stay Alive has won several awards, including an NHS Patient Safety Award. The app has proven to be effective in helping users during critical moments of distress and has helped to save many lives. A 2020 study by the Kent, Surrey, Sussex NHS Academic Health Science Network found that 76% of at-risk individuals reported the Stay Alive app helped them stay safe from suicide.