Celebrating 8 years of the ZSA and shaping the future together 

Last month marked 8 years of the Zero Suicide Alliance (ZSA) - a milestone that reflects the dedication of our members and partners. I’m Dr Claire Iveson and I’m delighted to introduce myself as the new ZSA Director.

Eight years ago, our co‑founders launched the ZSA initiative at the House of Parliament introducing a short free online suicide awareness training course that was developed with support from Angela Samata and Jane Boland.

Since this first training package, the ZSA team has gone on to develop further training courses which are tailored to specific safety concerns or audiences. This includes:

• Autism and Suicide Awareness
• Social Isolation and Loneliness
• Healthcare Staff and Suicide Awareness
• Suicide Awareness Training for Taxi and Private Hire Drivers
• Prison and Suicide Awareness Training
• Suicide Awareness Training for Probation Staff
• Veteran Suicide Awareness Training
• Student Suicide Awareness Training

Together, all of these courses have been taken nearly 3 million times, helping individuals across the UK and beyond to recognise the signs and support those at risk.

We also introduced data tools to help share data from multiple sources in one place which aim to make it easier for those working in suicide awareness and prevention to see the overall picture.

Last year, Joe Rafferty and Elaine Darbyshire retired from their NHS roles, passing the baton for the ZSA initiative. As the Strategic and Clinical Lead for Zero Suicide at Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust, I’ve worked closely with the ZSA over the years as one of its clinical advisors and was extremely honoured when I was asked to expand my role to include Director of the Zero Suicide Alliance.

Over the past few months, I’ve been familiarising myself with the role, exploring new opportunities, and working with our passionate team.I’m proud of everything the ZSA team has achieved, and I’d love for you to get to know them better – meet the team behind the work. 

Looking ahead…

Like many initiatives, we’ve felt the impact of wider NHS financial pressures. We're grateful for everyone who supports our charitable fundraising and donations and continue to use this to support our work. 

But to ensure the ZSA continues to thrive, we’re also having to explore new ways to sustain and grow our work and we’re developing exciting proposals to raise revenue. This includes:

• Licensed e-learning training packages for internal learning management systems (launching soon - register your interest here!)
• Paid for virtual and face-to-face training options for organisations, businesses and groups
• Building meaningful corporate sponsorships with organisations and businesses
• Exploring launching an online shop with ZSA merchandise to raise awareness and funds

We’ll be sharing more about all of these in the coming weeks and months! 

Your voice matters…

We're also developing our strategy which includes looking at: 

• Supporting implementation of the new BSI standard for workplace and suicide and national suicide prevention strategy recommendations
• Discussions around how we strengthen the ‘alliance’ part of the Zero Suicide Alliance.
• How we can expand our reach and impact through charitable funds, bids, grants.

We want to hear from you too!

• What do you value most about the ZSA?
• What would you like to see more of?
• What would you like to see next?
• Are there new ways you’d like to get involved?
• What are your ideas for how else we can raise funds?

Share your thoughts by email to: contactus@zerosuicidealliance.nhs.uk.

Together, we can shape the next chapter of the ZSA and continue working towards a world without suicide.

Thank you in advance for being part of the next steps of our journey.

Warm regards,

Dr Claire Iveson
Director of the Zero Suicide Alliance