The Tomorrow Project, a Nottingham based award winning suicide prevention service will be launching two new services to reduce the risk of suicide today.

The Tomorrow Project was established in South Nottinghamshire in 2012 after a number of deaths to suicide in a local community. By galvanising local support, bereaved families and professionals, The Tomorrow Project was established to deliver services and support to reach people in distress and reduce suicide.

Thanks to funding from the East Midlands Academic Health Science Network (EMAHSN). The Tomorrow Project will launch two new services to respond to gaps in local provision:

1. A primary care suicide crisis service - this service is for people who are contemplating ending their life. They can self-refer and the Tomorrow Project team will see them in a community setting and provide people with timely access to services. This is intended to reduce the risk of suicide and promote emotional wellbeing

2. A suicide bereavement service - this world-leading approach has been established in partnership with the police force, so that when a death has unfortunately occurred, there is an automated referral to the service so they can reach out to the bereaved within a matter of days and offer support

These services will open in Nottingham City and then extend into the county within a few months. They offer specialised support outside of statutory and NHS services but will work closely with other services to ensure people are safe and well.

Whilst there has been significant attention paid locally and nationally to suicide prevention, it remains a very specialist and underfunded area of work.

Suicide remains a socially taboo subject, but The Tomorrow Project is paving the way on challenging the stigma in this field. With an estimated 1 in 20 people contemplating suicide every year, thoughts of suicide occur more often than we might like to believe. Suicide attempts are at least 40 times more common than deaths by suicide.

Rates of suicide continue to rise, with attendances at QMC increasing by 5% from 2014 to 2015 the majority of those individuals being over the age of 25. Most suicide attempts occur in individuals who do not have a mental health problem and yet there are very few support pathways for these people, placing lives in danger. The Tomorrow Project will now be filling that gap by responding to all people in distress that currently can’t access the help they need without a 6month plus waiting list.

People bereaved by suicide also remain an overlooked group. These individuals are at an 80% increased chance of unemployment and a 1 in 10 chance of attempting suicide.

When compared with people bereaved through other causes, those bereaved by suicide are at an increased risk of suicide, psychiatric admission and depression, as well as suicide attempt and poor social functioning.

Caroline Harroe, CEO of The Tomorrow Project says: “We receive 6-8 new requests for help a week and hear the most tragic of human stories. People are contacting us in a state of crisis, contemplating ending their lives and leaving their loved ones. We will now be in a position to see them faster and be there by their side to help them through this time.”

“In addition, the new service in collaboration with the local police means that we will have the system in place to respond to families who have been recently bereaved, having the ability to respond promptly to this very specific and traumatic bereavement and loss.”

Penny Johnson, a bereaved mother, lost her son to suicide and says: “The Tomorrow Project is so vital in so many ways. Before my son died, we tried to get him help, only to be turned away because Jamie was over 18. I pleaded with them to help us, but they said that they couldn’t unless Jamie was the one asking for help, but in October, 2012, Jamie took his own life. My family have been in turmoil ever since, each of us needing help in our own way and The Tomorrow Project has been there for us. I don’t know how we would have survived without them.”

EMAHSN Managing Director, Mike Hannay said, “This is a very important day for anyone involved with suicide prevention and bereavement. Service provision is being improved and I’m proud that EMAHSN is supporting and developing such an extensive and positive programme. The consequences of suicide are far-reaching and if we can reduce the risk of suicide and simultaneously support those affected by it through providing innovative new services, this can only be a good thing.”

A briefing event is being held today to inform people involved with suicide prevention and to launch the services in Nottingham City.

NOTES TO EDITORS
The numbers of recorded suicides&/open verdicts in Nottingham City for 2012: 21 deaths and 64 in Nottinghamshire.

The estimated economic cost of each death by suicide is £1.67m

The rate of suicide is 3:1 male to female but the rate of suicides is increasingly rapidly in young females. The wide-reaching impact of each suicide means that bereavement by suicide is not an uncommon experience 4,882 people died by suicide in England in 2014 – one person every two hours of every day.

EMAHSN is one of 15 Academic Health Science Networks in England. EMAHSN brings together the NHS, universities, industry and social care to transform the health of the region’s 4.6m residents and stimulate wealth. Current priorities focus on identifying and spreading innovations that address challenges including cancer, obesity, diabetes, mental health, respiratory disease and liver disease.

Media enquiries: Chris Taylor 0115 748 4242 / This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or Lucy Hose 0115 748 4243 / This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

For further information about the projects please contact:
tomorrowproject.org.uk or 0115 934 8445