Dr Claire Iveson, Director of the Zero Suicide Alliance

Dr Claire Iveson is Director of the Zero Suicide Alliance (ZSA), Consultant Clinical Psychologist, and Clinical & Strategic Lead for Zero Suicide at Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust. Claire has worked in the NHS for 28 years and brings over 20 years of clinical experience as a Psychologist within mental health across diverse settings. She is dedicated to advancing suicide awareness and prevention through her specialist experience in evidence‑based initiatives and innovative practice. She has worked for in frontline services with individuals experiencing suicidal thoughts and is trained in a range of clinical approaches. Claire was a key author of the ZSA SHARE resource and has acted as a clinical advisor for the ZSA since the start of the initiative in 2017.

Claire is regularly invited to be a speaker at international conferences and contributes her expertise to support clinical research. She plays an active role in national and international conversations, sharing insights on safety planning, clinical risk management, and suicide prevention through safer quality care. Her work promotes research, learning, and collaboration to improve care and save lives.

Claire brings her strategic leadership skills to the ZSA from her role in Mersey Care where she is responsible for designing innovative and evidenced based workstreams and supporting frontline line staff with clinical decision making. Her experience enables the team to deliver a wide range of projects while providing clinical insights and expertise to ensure safe approaches that align with best practice and empower communities.

Ste Messenger, Suicide Prevention Clinical Advisor

Ste Messenger is a mental health nurse with over 40 years of experience in mental health. He has worked across inpatient wards and frontline services, and now supports a wide range of services by guiding the understanding and implementation of practices that ensure safe and effective clinical care.

As part of the Suicide Prevention Team at Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust, Ste brings specialist expertise in suicide prevention, analysing data and clinical trends to identify risks, strengthen risk‑management approaches, and promote evidence‑based strategies that improve safety and outcomes. He also develops and delivers training on suicide awareness, prevention, and clinical risk management to staff and the public, representing the ZSA across diverse organisations including charities, schools, universities, and the construction industry.

A sought‑after trainer and advisor, Ste contributes his expertise to ZSA projects, supports research and training initiatives, and is frequently invited to deliver talks and workshops that advance suicide awareness and prevention.

Joleen Shaw, Suicide Prevention Project Manager

Joleen works within the Safe from Suicide Team at Mersey Care with a particular focus on working in partnership with other NHS, local authority, and voluntary community faith and social enterprises (VCSE). 

With over 20 years NHS experience across Northern Ireland and England and five years focusing on suicide prevention. Joleen has a passion to reduce inequalities and improve access to care and supports VCSE groups to obtain crucial funding for initiatives that support mental health, wellbeing and suicide prevention. Joleen champions and builds connections with and between organisations to maximise opportunities for learning and develop working relationships.

Her commitment to public health has led her to undertake studies to become a Registered Public Health Practitioner - a nationally recognised status that demonstrates her competence, credibility, and dedication to improving population health. This achievement underscores her ability to influence policy, shape best practice, and deliver evidence‑based initiatives that make a measurable difference in communities.

Joleen’s role with the ZSA includes managing projects, sharing innovative ideas for sustainability, and applying her skills in building positive partnerships to enhance our work, extend our reach, and ensure it is shaped by the voices of people with lived experience. She brings strategic, analytical, preventative, and system-wide expertise to the team. Joleen is passionate about supporting improved population wellbeing and reducing suicide risk at a broader scale.

Jade Corbridge, Research and Development Officer

Jade leads on research and development for the Zero Suicide Alliance, ensuring that our work is grounded in evidence and informed by lived experience. Central to the creation of ZSA training programmes, she also oversees data developments and publications, helping to shape resources that are both impactful and accessible.

She works closely with partners including NHS Benchmarking and Mersey Care’s Research and Innovation Centre to maintain and develop data tools such as the ZSA dashboards and the Suicide Data Map. Jade supports all ZSA programmes by conducting secondary research and writing evidence reviews, making sure that every project is backed by robust evidence.

Jade also manages ZSA training data, keeping it up to date so it can be used to evaluate impact and drive improvements.

Through her leadership on data‑related activity and projects like the Suicide Data Map, Jade plays a vital role in ensuring that the ZSAs work continues to be evidence‑based, innovative, and focused on saving lives.

Amy Poole, Communications Manager

Amy leads on communications activities for the Zero Suicide Alliance, including planning, development and delivery of all online and offline activity as well as brand and reputation management. With nearly 20 years’ experience in public sector communications, she brings a passion for supporting wellbeing, mental health and suicide prevention empowering messaging that share practical advice and resources.

Working closely with the team, Amy helps develop and launch ZSA projects, including organising and managing online events and webinars. She also oversees the ZSA membership programme, collaborating with communications teams and suicide prevention leads across the country to strengthen messaging and share learning.

Amy is dedicated to ensuring that the ZSA’s voice is clear, accessible and supports its mission to empower, educate and equip more people with the tools and resources to raise suicide awareness, prevent suicide, and challenge stigma.