Influence

Online Safety

The UK Government’s Online Safety Bill was presented to Parliament in March, following a scrutiny process in which we pressed hard for a suicide-safe internet. In Westminster, we supported 97 people to share their experiences of online suicide and self-harm content directly with Parliament. And we secured the main headline slot on BBC 10 o’clock news with our calls to toughen up the Bill.

Parallel legislation was released in Ireland, informed by our recommendations to the Joint Oireachtas Committee.

Parliaments accepted several of our recommendations including requiring all platforms to tackle illegal content, which strengthened the new rules. However, this work isn’t finished – we won’t rest until the law protects everyone from harmful suicide and self-harm content online.

As well as campaigning for a safer internet, Samaritans has developed a hub of excellence in suicide prevention and the online environment. Through our online harms advisory service, we’ve responded to 133 concerns about unsafe suicide and self-harm content online.

We also launched a social media campaign to help people learn how to stay safe online when viewing or posting content related to self-harm and suicide. This reached over 1.7 million people across Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, and our online resources have had 19,000 views.

Lived experience

More and more we strive to involve and be informed by people who have been affected by suicide, suicidal thoughts or self-harm. This year we launched our Lived Experience Panel of people (now more than 400) who share their views and insights to help shape our work. We have also created several paid roles for people with lived experience to work at the very centre of Samaritans’ operations.

Through our role as host of the National Suicide Prevention Alliance (NSPA) – whose membership increased to over 1,400 organisations and individuals this year – we further embedded lived experience into suicide prevention efforts. The NSPA Lived Experience Network now involves over 360 people, including 33 influencers, who have worked with NSPA to inform a range of projects.

Training and guidance

We provide training in all kinds of workplaces to help people look after themselves, those around them, customers and clients. This year we revamped many of our courses and doubled the number of customers we worked with while retaining the quality and impact we expect: 98% of participants said they would recommend the course they took to others.

In 2021 our training partnership with the rail industry reached a milestone, with the number of rail staff trained in Managing Suicidal Contacts reaching over 25,000. Training is now set to spread even further as we also began teaching train companies how to deliver the course to their staff. This work, to equip all rail staff with the skills and confidence to spot people in distress and intervene, helped 1,591 life-saving interventions to be made on the railways this year.

We provided advice to more than 400 people working in the media on safe reporting and portrayal of suicide and self-harm and published new reporting guidance. By moving to virtual training, we have been able to treble the number of sessions we can run. This year we delivered 44 sessions with media outlets and communicators, including a training programme with The Independent Group and for journalism undergraduates.

A collaboration between Samaritans, National Highways and the Design Council began this year, to identify, develop and test design-led solutions to make high-risk locations on the road network safer. We also engaged with councils to improve suicide intervention strategies at high-risk locations and advised organisations such as National Car Parks on the use of crisis signage across their estate.

Samaritans supports anyone who is struggling to cope, no matter where they live in the UK or Ireland. Many of the things we do, we do as one charity. But our five nations' teams also work with their respective parliaments and assemblies to prioritise the unique or shared issues experienced by their communities.

England

The national suicide prevention strategy in England will be 10 years old in 2022 and we have secured a commitment from the government to update it. This year, we also inspired hundreds of campaigners to take action with us and worked to get our voice heard on topics including women’s health, alcohol and economic support. People with lived experience of self-harm worked with us as we responded to and achieved important changes to guidelines on the assessment and management of self-harm in England. We continued to host the leading alliances for suicide prevention, NSPA and the Support After Suicide Partnership (SASP), bringing together over 1,500 organisations and individuals to help prevent suicide.

Northern Ireland

In Northern Ireland, Samaritans developed and promoted key priorities for suicide prevention to coincide with Assembly elections, alongside influencing policy development via meetings with civil servants, politicians and policymakers. Branch volunteers were recognised at a reception in Belfast City Hall hosted by the Lord Mayor of Belfast.

Ireland

Samaritans Ireland appeared before the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Tourism, Culture, Arts, Sport, and Media during the pre-legislative scrutiny process of the online safety legislation. We made three key recommendations, at least two of which will be implemented to protect people from suicide and self-harm in the online world. Following an invitation by the Embassy of Ireland in Berlin, we provided an online mental health workshop to the Irish community in Germany. We also provided skills training to healthcare professionals working with Irish Traveller communities, and to organisations working with unemployed people.

Scotland

In Scotland, the Minister for Mental Wellbeing agreed to our request for a new self-harm strategy. We also made a submission to the Scottish consultation on the next national Suicide Prevention Strategy. We did this in consultation with over 100 Scottish volunteers and members of our lived experience panel. We secured vital funding from the Scottish Government for our helpline and online chat rollout. It will also support our plan to extend reach through a programme of work for lone and isolated workers in the West Highlands. We also began a pilot EDI programme to support branches and communities, supported by Baillie Gifford.

Wales

In Wales, we have made strides in getting our voice heard across wide-ranging social factors that impact suicide risk. We are now active members of the cross-party groups on mental health and poverty, members of the Anti-Poverty Alliance and co-chair a Mental Health subgroup of a national NHS alliance. We have responded to inquiries and consultations on topics including the benefits system in Wales and mental health inequalities. Importantly, we worked with Mind Cymru and Lynne Neagle MS to get an amendment to the new curriculum bill passed to ‘place a duty to have regard to mental health of children and young people’.

Brew Monday

On 17 January 2022, Samaritans reminded everyone to reach out for a cuppa and a catch-up with the people they care about. We caught people’s attention – and a wealth of media coverage – with our Blue Monday myth-busters and film featuring Julie Walters, Keith Lemon, James Acaster and Stevie Basaula. We also had support from artists James Norbury, Nathan Wyburn and Emelie Hryhoruk who produced bespoke pieces that were shown on digital screens across the rail network. Brew Monday videos saw a 60% increase in views on the day, compared to last year, and the number of times people clicked on our website from our social media posts more than doubled.

Small Talk Saves Lives

The fifth phase of Small Talk Saves Lives launched in August 2021, in partnership with Network Rail, British Transport Police and the wider rail sector. The campaign aims to help people to recognise someone who needs help, understand how to intervene safely to interrupt suicidal thoughts and give people the confidence to trust their instincts and take action.

Forty-five thousand people visited the website in response to extensive media coverage and campaign advertising. Sixty- five per cent of people who recalled seeing the campaign said they felt confident to judge if someone needed help – nearly 20% more than people who hadn’t seen the campaign. Seven in 10 who had approached someone, said they felt encouraged to do so by the campaign.

Real People, Real Stories

In March 2022 we ran the latest phase of Real People, Real Stories, aiming to reach men in rural communities who are struggling to cope. It was supported by The NFU Mutual Charitable Trust, the Scottish Government and the Welsh Government. A survey for the campaign found that – due partly to stigma and not knowing what help is available – just 43% of men in rural areas would reach out for support. On YouTube, over 2 million people saw our campaign ads, and we reached over 20 million people through media coverage. Several councils have now expressed interest in running the campaign locally.