From experience to action: local residents help guide the council’s new suicide prevention strategy
On Wednesday 19th February, The Barnet Public Health team and Inclusion Unlimited facilitated a lived experience workshop at The Network with those who have experienced suicidal thoughts, have tried to end their life, or have lost someone to suicide. The aim of this workshop was to gain insights from the experiences of local people to help guide and influence the development of the Barnet Suicide Prevention Strategy and Action Plan 2026-30, so that we can work together to make our suicide prevention as effective as possible.
Seher Kayikci, Senior Public Health Strategist, who leads on Suicide Prevention in Barnet Council said: ‘The event was a great success with our residents sharing really valuable insights from their personal experience. We feel really grateful that so many people attended. This shows how much the community in Barnet cares about preventing suicide and supporting those impacted by suicide. We plan to take forward the things we heard when we write our new Suicide Prevention Strategy.’
Some of the feedback from participants included:
💬 “Amazing. Really well run and inclusive... Thank you for handling such a sensitive subject with care and facilitating space for everyone.”
💬 “Today was a positive experience. Everybody was valued and I hope our input will help shape policy.”
💬 “Very informative and so caring and empathetic towards people.”
💬 “The effort put in to organise this event shows how life is valued. Thank you for everything.”
This workshop would not have been possible without support from the team at the Network in arranging the venue as well as the support of other teams within the Council and all our partners in promoting the workshop, including, but not limited to the Network, the Barnet Council Adult Social Care Resident Voice and Coproduction Team, Jami, Age UK Barnet, Inclusion Barnet and Barnet Voice for Mental Health, the North Central London ICB GP Communications team, the Barnet Mental Health Strategic Partnership and the Learning Disability Strategic Partnership.
The next steps for this work include the Barnet Suicide Prevention Partnership meeting in March for a Strategy development workshop. Following this, all insights gathered will be brought together to produce a draft for Barnet Council’s Suicide Prevention Strategy 2026-30, which will be shared with partners and participants from the lived experience workshop for feedback in May, to ensure it accurately reflects community needs.
It was clear from the workshop that there is a strong appetite for more opportunities to influence suicide prevention in the borough. The Suicide Prevention Partnership will be exploring how we can continue to engage people with lived experience as the Strategy progresses.
The Barnet Suicide Prevention Partnership is also launching the third phase of the Stay Alive campaign soon, which focuses on preventing mental ill-health and suicidality, particularly among men and those from the South Asian community. The campaign aims to remind everyone that it is okay to ask for help and to offer support for people who may be worried about someone else.
Download the Stay Alive app, a pocket suicide prevention resource packed full of useful information to help you stay safe. It is also for friends and family who might be worried about a loved one.