Moving Towards a Zero Suicide Society - Edition 2 of the report
This report summarises everything we’ve learned from the past 3 years of continuously exploring the question “how can we reduce the number of suicides in the UK and get them on a downward trend towards zero?”
This report is the second in a series from The Jordan Legacy summarising what is emerging from our ongoing action research project, as well as our wider, ongoing action learning initiatives, focusing on how we can reduce the number of suicides in the UK and how far we can go.
In the Action Research Project, launched in January 2023, we carried out semi-structured, in-depth one-to-one interviews (in the main, some with more than one person, eg the 3 Dads Walking).
These interviews were with senior leaders from some of the main suicide prevention charities in the UK; Suicide Prevention Leads; some people working in public services (eg NHS Trusts, police); coaches & counsellors; people who’ve authored books on this subject; people who’ve given talks on suicide prevention, including at TEDx events; people from a range of professional disciplines & sectors, including change management, technology, law, and the Construction sector; and many people with diverse lived/living experiences of suicide.
Access and download the report here
(Use the scroll bar to the right of the document to move through the pages or click on the ‘Pop out’ square, at the top right of the report, to view in full screen mode, where you can also save a copy).
(If you’re having problems viewing the report in this browser, you can access and save a copy by clicking this link)
Shared learning and collaboration are at the heart of this strategy because we know we can’t do this alone but together we can achieve a transformation in suicide prevention.
We have also listened to those who have participated in our online events and forums, who interact with us via our social media channels and the dozens of people who have participated in months of one-to-one interviews.
And then there are those we have listened to, including people affected by suicide; those who have attempted to end their lives, those who have lost loved ones to suicide, heads of national charities, third sector support organisations, including founders of crisis and help centres, NHS mental health employees and other emergency service workers, heads of wellbeing companies, wellbeing leads and others.
In every case, we have asked those we’ve spoken with to provide their responses to two key questions: How can we significantly reduce the annual number of suicides in the UK, from the 6000+ level it’s been at for 15 years? And, how far can we go?
When we published the 1st Edition of this report (on 11 July 2023), we knew it had been a major achievement to have compressed so much information, so many insights & ideas, so many proposed practical actions to reduce suicides, into the summary report we had then.
Almost immediately, we set ourselves the challenge of responding to the many emails, messages and comments we received from our first report and then set about collating all the feedback and suggestions and began to create the second edition of our report.
Although this is the Edition 2 of our report, it is not meant to be comprehensive or answer all the questions. We continue to welcome further input. Our research and conversations continue, with what is a growing Zero Suicide Society movement.
If you have been affected by any of the content in this article, please visit The Jordan Legacy’s website and our Help & Resources menu resources.
The Jordan Legacy CIC’s mission is to be at the forefront of the advancement of mental health and preventing lives being lost to suicide. Our focus and hope is that we can influence a significant reduction in the annual suicide numbers in the UK.
For regular updates on developments at The Jordan Legacy CIC and the work we’re involved with to help prevent suicide, you can opt-in here .
Will you donate to support this project?
We are only able to continue developing vital suicide prevention projects like this one thanks to the generous support of individuals and businesses in the private sector.
Every donation helps, no matter how large or small. If you can help, we are looking to raise £10000 to continue this project and donations can be made via our JustGiving page here.
Thank you
Steve Phillip and Paul Vittles creators of the ‘Moving Towards a Zero Suicide Society’ report.