Resource pack for schools, workplaces and clubs
The materials from the resources section collected into one bundle, with a facilitator's note, for organisations that intend to run a session rather than simply put a poster up.
If you need help now
In an emergency call 112 (EU), 999 (UK) or 911 (US). For everything else see Get support.
What the pack contains
- The wallet card sheet, eight cards to a page.
- Both posters: asking directly, and the weeks after an attempt.
- The two-page desk guide for managers.
- Facilitator's note. One page on running a thirty-minute session: what to cover, two exercises that tend to work, and how to close a session safely when someone in the room is personally affected.
- Signposting sheet. A fill-in sheet for local services, because national numbers are only half of what a person needs.
Before you run a session
Two things are worth doing in advance. Both are easy to skip and awkward to skip.
- Establish your local route. National lines are reliable but generic. Find out what exists in your area, such as a crisis cafe, a walk-in service or the out-of-hours number run by your local health provider, and have it written down before the session rather than afterwards.
- Assume that someone in the room is affected. In a group of thirty adults it is close to certain that at least one person has been bereaved by suicide, has made an attempt, or is currently struggling. A session run on that assumption goes better. Do not ask anyone to disclose anything, and do not put anyone on the spot.
What the session should not do
- It should not describe methods or dwell on individual deaths. Both are associated with increased risk and neither helps anyone in the room.
- It should not present suicide as an understandable response to circumstances, or as inevitable.
- It should not treat the subject as a one-off. A single session is a beginning. A repeated and unremarkable presence is what changes an institution's culture.
The facilitator's note covers this in more detail, including wording that tends to work when someone becomes distressed during a session. If you are running the session with no background in mental health, that is the situation the note is written for. It assumes no clinical training.
Getting the pack
The pack is free and no registration is required. The individual pieces are on Free resources if you would rather take only the parts you need.