Grassroots Suicide Prevention’s ‘Breaking the Silence’ (BTS) teaching resources, used when delivering their suicide prevention workshops (funded by C&M DsPH) to Year 10 pupils across our subregion, has collected two prestigious national awards.
Both awards were from the 2025 Learning Excellence Awards Ceremony and the categories were ‘Learning in Education’ and ‘Outstanding Course or Initiative’.
BTS workshops are being rolled out across Cheshire and Merseyside as part of the ground breaking Liverpool John Moores’ University (LJMU) research into suicide prevention in schools, and over 1000 Year 10 students have benefited (to date) from the delivery of these UK-first sessions.
The workshops were co-produced and piloted with young people, academics, educators, child and adolescent mental health professionals, pastoral leads, PSHE leads, and experts in the field of suicide prevention.
They are designed to help young people identify and support fellow pupils who may be struggling (potentially vulnerable to suicidal ideation), and to know how to respond and when to flag up to an adult. They include a high-quality video clip and effective learning strategies designed specifically for young people.
The LJMU academic research trial is funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research, and schoolchildren across Cheshire and Merseyside who display suicidal tendencies are receiving targeted support via the initiative led by psychologists at the University.
Adopted after success of a similar scheme in Australia, the initiative aims to reduce suicide risk and encourage young people to seek help when they are struggling. Teachers can use the resources to engage students and encourage help-seeking in a school community, saving young lives.
The Grassroots Suicide Prevention organisation have now released the BTS workshop resources for teachers to deliver as part of a comprehensive PHE programme within schools and colleges, and there are free webinars to support teachers in delivering the sessions.
