Suicide Prevention is Everyone’s Business: and We Must All Act

By Cllr Paul Kelly, COSLA Health and Social Care Spokesperson

Last week on World Suicide Prevention Day, Suicide Prevention Scotland launched a new documentary: What I want you to know. In the film, Phil Wanless shares the moving story of his son Fraser’s tragic death by suicide, and his own experiences of bereavement and suicide.

What I want you to know powerfully shows how deeply suicide is felt by friends, families, and wider communities, and is particularly striking in how it tells us about the complexities of Fraser’s life: with trauma, substance use, and relationships all having a significant impact. It reminds us of the importance of ensuring our work on suicide prevention in Scotland continues to address the wider factors in our lives.

I was honoured to meet Phil at the film’s preview last Tuesday, and his call for us as politicians to move beyond awareness and into action is something I will carry with me. I am determined to ensure that anyone who is having suicidal thoughts or is bereaved by suicide can access the support they need, when they need it.

Cllr Paul Kelly standing on stage with a microphone

This, of course, will take all of us working together: across local and national government, across all sectors, and across communities spanning the length and breadth of Scotland.

For local government, we have a crucial role to play both in providing support and addressing the wider social factors that can impact on suicide risk. I know from the work in my own Council in North Lanarkshire that suicide prevention is not solely the responsibility of mental health services and that it requires a true multi-agency, whole-of-society approach.

COSLA jointly owns Scotland's suicide prevention strategy, Creating Hope Together, alongside the Scottish Government, and our latest Action Plan focusses on addressing the wider factors that contribute to suicide risk, with a focus on a range of cross-cutting policy areas including education, housing and homelessness, and employment.

I’m proud of the focus that Creating Hope Together places on meaningfully involving, learning from, and acting on, the voices of lived and living experience. In sharing his story in What I want you to know, Phil has shown us where there are gaps and where we must act further. We must take these lessons forward as we progress our strategy.

As Councillors, we have influence over local policy and investment, so it is crucial we consider how our decisions contribute to preventing suicide and providing hope. We also have an important role in ensuring that our efforts reflect the needs of our local communities. To support this, I think one of the most valuable things councillors can do is build strong connections with their local suicide prevention leads and local partnerships, and I urge all members to reach out to understand how you can best link in with suicide prevention efforts in your area.

We also have a responsibility to communicate about suicide safely and responsibly. Responsible communication can reduce stigma, encourage people to seek support, and reduce the risk of further harm. So I urge all elected members to familiarise themselves with Samaritans media guidance and to reach out to colleagues in COSLA for support with this.

On Friday, we delivered a COSLA Elected Members’ webinar to have those very conversations around responsible communication, our national strategy, and how we as Councillors can play a key role in preventing suicide and reducing suicide risk in our communities. The webinar concluded with a screening of What I want you to know, serving as a powerful reminder to us all that awareness alone is not enough.

Phil has told us what he wants us to know, now we must all act.

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