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Suicide Prevention Community Grants 2021/22
Hertfordshire CC is seeking applications from across the county for community funding from the voluntary sector or not for profit organisations working to support mental health and wellbeing and reduce suicide.
The £30,000 one year of funding is part of NHS England 4th wave provision for Herts and West Essex Integrated Care System (ICS). Its purpose is to encourage resilience and build greater community support for those at increased risk of suicide and reduce the incidence and associated stigma of self-harm and suicide. Those most at risk form suicide include men, especially those who are middle aged, individuals with existing mental health problems and those experiencing stressful life events.
Aimed at small and innovative projects, the grants will be up to £3000 each and will be for 12 months, with opportunity to apply for more funding next year.
While there can be only one bid per organisation, match funding or other evidence of joint working will increase chances of success.
Please find a link to the application form here (Word 88kb)
Deadline for applications is 7th May.
Queries may be directed to: SuicidePreventionHerts@hertfordshire.gov.uk.
World Suicide Prevention Day 2020
World Suicide Prevention Day on 10 September provides the opportunity for people, across the globe, to raise awareness of suicide and suicide prevention. In Hertfordshire we have been working with people with lived experience of suicide to collect and share their stories to raise awareness. More about World Suicide Prevention Day.
Resources for running an online or offline self-help group
The opportunity to share your experience and support others can have great benefits. We have developed some resources Opening in new window to help individuals who are running a group.
Suicide Prevention Network Conference 2019
On Friday 31 January the Public Health team ran Hertfordshire’s Suicide Prevention Network conference.
During the conference we held a question and answer session (PDF 141KB)Opening in a new window.
Suicide Prevention is a priority for Hertfordshire County Council
The second anniversary of the Journalist’s Charter for the Sensitive Reporting of Suicide was highlighted at Hertfordshire’s Suicide Prevention Network event on Friday 31 January.
The event brought together over 100 professionals with an interest in suicide prevention and was opened by Hertfordshire County Council’s Cabinet Member for Public Health and Prevention, Cllr Tim Hutchings, who said: “Suicide Prevention is a key priority for us and this is a great opportunity to reflect on the work achieved since our Suicide Prevention Strategy was produced three years ago, and build on it for our 2020-25 strategy.
You can read the full press release here.
Review of the Hertfordshire Suicide Prevention Programme
A review of the Hertfordshire Suicide Prevention Programme was carried out between December 2018 and April 2019.
Stakeholders were interviewed and were largely positive about the suicide prevention programme and its potential to develop further. They also provided several ideas for more projects to be considered. Challenges to the partnership were also shared including sustaining the enthusiasm and engagement of participants in delivering the range of desired outcomes in the action plan.
The Hertfordshire Suicide Prevention Strategy and Action Plan 2017 Review (PDF 298KB)Opening in a new window.
What the Hertfordshire public thinks
A survey of Hertfordshire residents revealed that they think suicide is an issue and would like to know more about what we are doing to prevent it. The survey launched 20 December 2018 via social media and ran until the end of January 2019.
749 people responded, which wildly exceeded expectations. The majority wanted more information about what we are doing to prevent suicide, with social media overwhelmingly chosen as the preferred means to be updated. 264 people (over 35% of total respondents) told us they would be interested in participating in suicide prevention work.
So what next? We are using this survey and its participants to support the development of our 2019/2020 strategy.
2018 Suicide Audit
The suicide audit aims to give a view of deaths by suicide within Hertfordshire compared to the rest of the UK. This information can be used to inform the suicide prevention strategy and planned actions.
A multi-agency group was formed to decide what data to collect, and to agree a process which would be objective, robust and consistent.
The 2018 audit includes 95 deaths between 1 Jan and 31 Dec 2018. Because of the time delay between a death occurring and the inquest taking place, the majority of deaths occurred in 2017.
You can read the full 2018 audit report here (PDF 949KB)Opening in a new window.