So What Is It You Actually Do?
If I say I ‘work in suicide prevention’, this is usually the next question.
I also often deliberately intrigue people, and provoke a different type & tone of conversation, when asked at business conferences ‘what business are you in?’, by saying “I’m in the hope business” but this too is usually soon followed by “So what is it you actually do?”.
Over the past three-and-a-half years, I’ve worked with Steve Phillip and The Jordan Legacy. When we meet people who are new to suicide prevention and our Zero Suicide Society conversation, we explain that The Jordan Legacy was set up by Steve after losing his son Jordan to suicide, and that its core purpose is to take and facilitate practical actions to get the suicide numbers in the UK on a downward trend, towards zero…
…and then they say “what is it you actually do?”!
So, we thought it might be helpful to illustrate what it is we actually do by listing ‘a month in the life’ of our work at The Jordan Legacy.
We’ve taken the month of January 2024.
January is usually a relatively quiet month, but not this January.
We were flat out for much of 2023:
~ carrying out our action research project January-June 2023;
~ publishing the 1st Edition of our report Moving Towards a Zero Suicide Society on 11 July and getting masses of feedback & further suggestions;
~ publishing the 2nd Edition of this pioneering report on 29 September:
~ publishing our response to the National Suicide Prevention Strategy (NSPS) for England (2023–2028):
~ in addition, I published a much more detailed critique of the Government’s National Strategy in a deliberately provocatively titled piece “Are we ‘in the Suicide Prevention business’ or is it Suicide Maintenance?”:
~ launching and promoting our petition for a ‘Suicide Prevention Act’ package of measures to help get the suicide numbers down, towards zero;
~ working through our typically busiest months of September (which includes World Suicide Prevention Day) and October (which includes World Mental Health Day) with lots of talks, workshops, posts, articles, advocacy meetings, campaigns, events, conferences, etc;
~ and our fortnightly Jordan’s Space radio shows:
~ through to the unique Hope for Life Conference in December.
Through that period of peak activity July-December 2023, we seeded and invested and prepared-the-ground for a strong start to 2024, rolling out the Zero Suicide Society Transformation Programme, which contributed to the record high level of activity and achievement in January.
So, what did we then actually do in January 2024?
1 Jan: The One Million Steps Challenge
The first day of 2024 was the launch day for the second One Million Steps Challenge for our supporters to raise awareness re suicide/suicide prevention whilst benefiting their own mental & physical wellbeing and raising funds for The Jordan Legacy.
The first Challenge from 1 June 2023 had 40 people taking part and raised more than £11,000. This second wave has 70 participating. Fingers crossed!
1–5 Jan: The 12 Asks of Christmas Campaign
The Jordan Legacy collaborated with the #ForThe100 campaign (set up to reduce student suicides in higher education) to raise awareness around suicide & suicide prevention, and prompt action, including signing The Jordan Legacy’s petition to parliament for the measures needed to help us get the suicide numbers on a downward trend, towards zero.
2 Jan: Petition Clicks Over 10,000 Signatures
The Jordan Legacy petition to parliament clicked over the 10,000 signatures needed to require a formal response from the Government in writing.
4 Jan: Jordan’s Space
For the first week of the new year, we had a repeat broadcast for one of The Jordan Legacy’s fortnightly radio shows, Jordan’s Space — the only fortnightly radio show in the world dedicated to suicide prevention.
This was a repeat broadcast to enable the team to have a break and re-charge over the holiday period.
6 Jan: Steve on the Beeb!
Steve Phillip, Founder of The Jordan Legacy, was interviewed for what became a superb piece of suicide prevention education on prime time BBC1, with ‘Jordan’s Story’ featured on BBC Look North:
8 Jan: Meetings re the Global Zero Suicide in Healthcare Summit and The Jordan Legacy’s #ZeroSuicideSociety #JoinTheDots Tour
As Chief Facilitator, Zero Suicide Society Transformation Programme, I met with and exchanged correspondence with the hosts and organisers of the 5th Global Zero Suicide in Healthcare Summit to discuss the Summit, brief on our Summer Tour, and discuss collaboration.
Our Tour, 12–23 June, is timed to dovetail with the Global Zero Suicide Summit on 24/25 June, with our Tour ending with a ‘Merseyside Festival’.
9 Jan: Meeting with Darren Barden re iTalk
I met with Darren Barden, who we had as our guest on Jordan’s Space in December…
…to discuss a collaborative partnership around the potentially ground-breaking iTalk mental health & suicide prevention app.
9 Jan: Meeting with Dorset Mind re Rural Mental Health & Suicide Prevention
I met with the CEO of Dorset Mind to explore ways of working together, including The Jordan Legacy being involved in an event in Dorset later this year, and various ways of educating and advocating around the ‘neglected’ issues of rural mental health and suicide prevention in rural areas.
https://dorsetmind.uk/who-we-are/our-team/
9 Jan: Release of ‘This is The North’ Podcast on “Suicide — a means of death not a cause of death”
Recorded in October 2023, but just released on 9 January 2024, this is an excellent podcast —with myself and Evelina Dzimanaviciute having the opportunity to talk about suicide & suicide prevention at the systems change level as well as at the individual & community human level.
The quality of the questions and content in this podcast is all the more remarkable given that the host, Citizens’ Advice Gateshead CEO Alison Dunn, witnessed a (public) suicide the day before the recording.
12 Jan: Launch of the Not #JustAnotherNumber Fundraising Campaign
Spearheaded by Steve Phillip, The Jordan Legacy launched this national campaign to specifically highlight that each suicide statistic is not ‘just another number’ but a real person, bereaved by real people left behind.
15 Jan: Brew Monday
The commercial scam of ‘Blue Monday’ — with an evidence-free claim there’s a trough in people’s mental health at this time of year — has been challenged by a Samaritans-led campaign called #BrewMonday.
The Jordan Legacy collaborated with Samaritans, Andy’s Man Club, Govia Thameslink Rail, Stevenage Football Club, and the British Transport Police, with Steve spending Monday 15 January talking to commuters on a train from Peterborough to St Pancras about suicide prevention and handing out our 1-page guide on how to support people struggling with their mental health or feeling suicidal.
I also showed my support for this excellent (counter)initiative at York Railway Station.
16 Jan: Meeting with Norwich City FC
Steve met with Norwich City FC to discuss a collaborative partnership with The Jordan Legacy, following their request for support in helping develop their mental health & wellbeing strategy.
This meeting was prompted by the Canaries’ incredible suicide prevention video which has had 60 million views around-the-world.
16 Jan: ICG Webinar “Transformational Change Dynamics and The ‘S’ Word”
A key component of our Zero Suicide Society Strategy — to get the suicide numbers on a downward trend, towards zero — is to try and draw in people & organisations with transferable skills, experience, talents & energy who have not previously engaged with ‘the transformational change challenge of suicide prevention’.
I ran this webinar through The ICG, a UK-centred global network of independent researchers and ‘insights professionals’.
17 Jan: Meeting with South Yorkshire ICB Suicide Prevention Partnership
When The Jordan Legacy’s report Moving Towards a Zero Suicide Society was published in 2023 (1st Edition on 11 July, engagement & feedback, then 2nd Edition on 29 September)…
…there was a lot of interest from local area Suicide Prevention Leads, some of whom called our report “ground-breaking”.
We sent our report out to all of the ‘ICB Partnerships’, and several Suicide Prevention Leads asked us to meet with them and/or deliver a presentation at their Suicide Prevention Partnership/Network gatherings.
On 17 Jan, I attended the South Yorkshire ICB Suicide Prevention Partnership meeting to brief on The Jordan Legacy, our Zero Suicide Society Transformation Programme, and our #ZeroSuicideSociety #JoinTheDots Tour scheduled for June 2024.
18 Jan: New Edition of Jordan’s Space
This our 32nd radio show recording — all Jordan’s Space shows are on the website, forming a fantastic ‘resources library’ — this time interviewing Mark Simmonds, author of ‘Breakdown and Repair’ who, among other things, introduced us to the concept of “a good breakdown”!:
19 Jan: Meeting with Melanie Costas re Rural Mental Health & Suicide Prevention
To discuss a possible collaborative partnership, The Jordan Legacy speaking at their events, and vice versa (including Melanie being involved in our Scunthorpe Conference on 12 June), I met with Melanie Costas who runs a charity called Rural Mental Health Matters, the leading charity working in the field of rural mental health and suicide prevention:
24 Jan: Recording of New Jordan’s Space Interview with Dr Sandy Onie
For the 33rd radio show, Steve, Danielle & myself interviewed Dr Sandersan (Sandy) Onie, a global leader in the field of suicide prevention, who achieved the remarkable feat in 2023 of getting suicide prevention enshrined in the laws of Indonesia, after facilitating the largest ever gathering of religious leaders:
Also, I’ve been liaising with Lifeline International about the global campaign to decriminalise suicide — attempting suicide is still a criminal offence in 25 countries, with the law unclear in a further 27 countries — around what support we can give from the UK (after all, we Brits exported these laws to many countries which didn’t previously have them!).
25 Jan: Meeting with MEL Research
I met with MEL Research with whom we have a collaborative partnership.
MEL carries out a survey for us — pro bono! — with key mental health and suicide/suicide prevention questions asked, twice each year (Spring & Autumn) to a nationally representative sample of 1500 UK residents aged 16+.
In this particular meeting, I discussed another potential project focused on the relationship between suicide and socio-economic disadvantage.
26/27 Jan: Bereaved Dads Gathering
Steve spent a weekend with four other fathers bereaved by suicide. This group included the father of schoolgirl Molly Russell who has featured prominently in the national media in recent years and whose case of viewing harmful content online helped to bring about the Online Safety Act, coming into law in October 2023.
This meeting was to explore how the group could collaborate and join forces to help with public education and advocacy and, most importantly, prevent more suicides in the UK.
27/28 Jan: Global Community Engagement Day
Another excellent opportunity to draw in talented people who’ve not previously been actively involved in suicide prevention.
This time, community engagement practitioners around the world, with a diverse audience watching a panel discussion, including myself as a panellist:
I also wrote and published a ‘memoir-with-life-lessons’ especially for the 7th Global Community Engagement Day, which additionally celebrates my 40 years working in community engagement, and also acts as a valuable promotion for the work of The Jordan Legacy:
Becky Hirst has also invited me to do a follow-up podcast on the topic of ‘Mental Health & Disconnection’ in community engagement, which will be recorded on 29 February.
29 Jan: Public Launch of The Jordan Legacy #ZeroSuicideSociety #JoinTheDots Tour
After months of planning, and with the details starting to be firmed up, it was time to go public on our Tour scheduled for 12–23 June this year, including ‘the big start’ via our Launch Conference on 12 June and ‘the big finish’ via our ‘Merseyside Festival’ 21–23 June, timed to dovetail with the 5th International ‘Zero Suicide in Healthcare’ Summit taking place in the UK for the first time, in Liverpool, 24–25 June:
Postscript
Since publishing this piece, the Tour has happened and was a huge success, including the ground-breaking Launch Conference, captured here by film-maker Garry Lynch of Bear Media:
30 Jan: R;pple Education Webinar
Steve was one of four ‘expert panellists’ who were invited to discuss the topic of suicide prevention in education; specifically in UK universities.
31 Jan: NSPA Conference at The Oval in London
I attended the National Suicide Prevention Alliance (NSPA) Conference in London, with more than 300 attending, and speakers including the Mental Health Minister & the Government’s Lead Adviser on Suicide Prevention; and also many of The Jordan Legacy’s collaborative partners.
Among other questions & comments from-the-floor and in some of the breakout sessions, I publicly challenged the Government’s Suicide Prevention Adviser when some of his narrative commentary didn’t seem to be supported by the data on his slides!
Those who know me well know how passionate I am not only for suicide prevention but about transparency, accountability, accuracy, and having an evidence-based narrative that highlights the full scale of ‘the suicide problem’ and clearly sets out the way forward, so we need to be prepared to publicly challenge if necessary.
Most people attending (not all!) seemed to appreciate the challenge!
I was also able to meet with several of our collaborative partners to advance our Tour Programme, and also promote the Tour from the floor, microphone-in-hand.
A remarkable month eh?
And the activity levels will remain high for the rest of the year.
Thank you for reading
Paul Vittles
