North Central London Suicide Prevention Programme

Please note this page will discuss mental ill health, self-harm and suicide.

In North Central London, an average of 93 people die by suicide every year; each of these is a life lost and a community devastated. To address this, public health teams in Barnet, Camden, Enfield, Haringey and Islington, along with the NHS, have come together to form the NCL Suicide Prevention Partnership. Our goal is to reduce the suicide rate locally through population-based suicide prevention measures as well as programmes targeted to those at highest risk. Backed by ICB funding, the programme partnership is seeking to meet our goals by delivering the following:

Suicide prevention training for professionals working within North Central London
Suicide awareness raising campaigns to improve public awareness of mental health resources
Suicide prevention community grant funding for local VCSE organisations
Support for high-risk children and young people to reduce risk of suicide
Support for individuals who present to emergency departments with suicidal thoughts and/or behaviours

North Central London Suicide Prevention Community

Suicide is often seen as a mental health issue, but only 1 in 4 people who take their life are in contact with mental health services before their death. However, this doesn’t mean that there aren’t any opportunities for intervention; many people struggling with thoughts of suicide are facing other issues in their life that can lead to an increase in suicidal thoughts, including loneliness, domestic abuse, financial concerns and housing insecurity. Often, people will reach out for help for these issues, which creates an opportunity for compassionate professionals and volunteers to identify potential suicide risk and offer much-needed support.

That’s why we have created the North Central London Suicide Prevention Community. This will be a space for local organisations and services to connect with each other, share best practice and learn about how to best support their service users who may be struggling with thoughts of suicide. The community is open to any organisation or community group working in Barnet, Camden, Enfield, Haringey and/or Islington. Members do not need to be working within the mental health sector, and we welcome anyone who is keen to learn about how they can be more suicide aware.

As part of the community, you will have access to:

Monthly newsletters which contain updates on local and national suicide prevention activity
Learning forums tailored to themes that members of the community would like to learn more about
Updates on future activities, such as training and funding opportunities

The best way to get involved is to sign up to the NCL Suicide Prevention Community mailing list or emailing ncl.suicideprevention@barnet.gov.uk for more information.

Training Opportunities

The NCL Suicide Prevention Programme will host a series of training opportunities for professionals working across North Central London. These training sessions will be for:

Non-mental health professionals working with people at an increased risk of suicide
Primary care colleagues
Any professional who wants to learn more about local resources and services

This page will be updated with training dates and links when these are available to book.

Useful links and resources

Resource	Availability	Type of Support	Description
Stay Alive app	National	Self-help mental health resource	The Stay Alive app is a suicide prevention app created by Grassroots Suicide Prevention. It can be used by individuals struggling with suicidal thoughts, or by those worried about someone else.
NHS Crisis Line	London	Crisis helpline	Call 111 and select the mental health option to contact a trained mental health professional who can listen and connect you to the support that you need.
Samaritans	National	Crisis helpline	Call 116 123 for a free, confidential listening service, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Papyrus	National	Crisis helpline	Call 0800 068 4141 or text 88247 to contact the Hopeline, a dedicated suicide prevention for young people aged under 35. Professionals who have been exposed to suicide can access debrief support through this phone number.
SHOUT	National	Crisis Helpline	Text ‘SHOUT’ to 85258 to access free, confidential text support from trained volunteers, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week
Campaign Against Living Miserably	National	Crisis helpline	Call 0800 58 58 58 from 5pm-midnight every day, for free, confidential, anonymous support.
Zero Suicide Alliance Training	National	Training	Free, online, foundational training for anyone who may know somebody struggling with thoughts of suicide. This is suitable for professionals and members of the public with no prior knowledge of suicide prevention, equipping them with the ability to recognise when someone is struggling with suicidal thoughts, as well as how to respond. There are several training courses aimed at supporting different audiences, including autistic people, students, and people in prison.
The Listening Place	London	In-person mental health support	Free face-to-face support with trained volunteers for adults struggling with thoughts of suicide
James’ Place	London	In-person mental health support	Free face-to-face therapy to help men recover from suicidal crisis
Body and Soul – YANA	London	Self-harm and attempted suicide follow-up support	20 week dialectical therapy programme for young people (aged 16-30) who have previously attempted suicide
Andy’s Man Club	Barnet, Enfield, Camden	Peer support	Free peer support groups for men in Euston, Barnet and Ponder’s End.
Coping After Suicide Guidance for Organisations	National	Suicide bereavement	A guide, designed for voluntary and faith organisations and local businesses which aims to support colleagues after someone, such as an employee or service user, may have died by suicide
Amparo Support After Suicide Service	NCL	Suicide bereavement	Emotional and practical support for those bereaved or impacted by suicide.
Help is at Hand	National	Suicide bereavement	Resource for people who have been bereaved by the suicide of a loved one.
Survivors of Bereavement by Suicide	National	Suicide bereavement	2nd Wednesday of every month from 7:00pm until 8:45pm. Telephone: 07934 976 253. Email: haringey@uksobs.org
First Hand	National	Suicide bereavement	A resource for people who are affected by the suicide of someone they did not know. This may be through witnessing a suicide, or responding to an incident as part of your work.

Suicide Prevention Community Grant Fund

We want to support the VCFSE sector across North Central London to make suicide prevention everyone’s business. As such, we are making grant funds of up to £10,000 for VCFSE partners to better support service users who are struggling with thoughts of suicide.

The key objectives of this fund are to:

Provide the NCL VCFSE workforce with the confidence and resources they need to better support people struggling with thoughts of suicide
Develop greater collaboration between NHS, local authority and voluntary sector partners
Embed support within communities, led by members of that community
Offer support at an early opportunity to prevent escalation of mental health crisis, in turn reducing pressure on NHS

We are particularly interested in projects that can support the following:

Applications for the Suicide Prevention Community Grant Fund open on 27 March 2025 and will close on 24 April 2025. For more information and to find out how to apply, please follow the links below: