Brook to develop suicide prevention lessons

On World Mental Health Day and the first day of Sexual Health Week, Dougie Boyd, Director of Education & Wellbeing shares Brook’s commitments to help improve the health and wellbeing of young people.

Brook exists to ensure that young people’s lives are free from inequality, rich with opportunity and enriched by happy, healthy relationships.

From our very inception in 1964, our primary focus has been sexual health but we have long observed the intersection between sexual and mental health. In fact, young people very often ask us for support with both. It is this which inspired the development of our My Life programme which combines motivational approaches, positive psychology and goal-focused coaching to help young people overcome life’s challenges. And we are ambitious to do more like this.

In recent years, we have seen first-hand the sharp and devastating rise in self-harm and suicidal ideation through our safeguarding work. Indeed, it is the commonest reason for Brook staff making a safeguarding referral.

On World Mental Health Day 2022 and on the first day of Sexual health Week 2022, we would like to share our commitments to help improve the mental health and wellbeing of young people and to break down the barriers that stop young people from living lives that have meaning for them.

Today, Brook commits to: ·

• Adding our voice to the work of 3 Dads Walking and Papyrus, the UK charity for the prevention of young suicide in demanding that safe and age-appropriate suicide prevention is included in statutory guidelines for Relationships Sex and Health Education (RSHE).

• Developing our own RSHE curriculum so that suicide prevention lessons are incorporated in all key stages and rolling this curriculum out by September 2023.

• Developing two new mental health packages for children and young people on mental health literacy and mental health promotion to begin piloting in January 23 and to ensure that both programmes are fully accessible for young people who are neurodivergent.

• To launch a Brook Learning Lab in March 2023 that hopes to bring together a range of people and organisations to share best practice in practical approaches and to explore ways to work together to prevent suicide in children and young people.

More details will be shared as we progress to delivering upon our commitments.