Case studies

Innovation in local government is about improving the lives of the people in our communities. Browse through our case studies to see the many innovative programmes councils are involved in.

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COVID-19 case studies

Councils are doing remarkable work to address the challenges brought by coronavirus. Good council practice related to the COVID-19 outbreak can be found on our dedicated web hub.

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Providing men at risk of suicide with emotional support and advice with employment, housing, and financial difficulties.

The Hope service provides psychosocial and practical support for men aged 30–64 who are at risk of suicide, advising them in relation to any money, employment, benefit, or housing problems they may identify.

Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council: Developing an attempted suicide follow-up service

The Psychosocial Engagement Team service was developed as a six-month pilot project, where referrals were made by A&E mental health liaison teams into a six to eight week programme focused on problem-solving and support. In six months, 100 referrals were made, with 85 per cent engagement. The pilot has been evaluated and embedded into the mental health pathway. This case study was done jointly with the National Suicide Prevention Alliance and forms part of our suicide prevention resource.

Community-based mental health and suicide prevention interventions for men – learnings and evidence from Cheshire and Merseyside

Like many areas, reaching and engaging middle aged men in suicide prevention activities is an important objective for the Champs Public Health Collaborative. The Collaborative commissioned Everton in the Community and Edge Hill University to conduct an evaluation of funded projects and a rapid evidence review of the effectiveness of these interventions. This case study was done jointly with the National Suicide Prevention Alliance and forms part of our suicide prevention resource.

Hertfordshire County Council and Stevenage Borough Council: A new crisis café to prevent suicide at a high-risk location

From March to October 2021, there was a reported increased in the number of suicide attempts, fatalities, and interventions at Stevenage train station. A Task and Finish Group was set up to quickly explore what support could be offered locally to people in crisis at the station. A NightLight crisis café has been opened close to the station, with 108 visits in the first month alone. This case study was done jointly with the National Suicide Prevention Alliance and forms part of our suicide prevention resource.

Kent and Medway: Highlighting the relationship between domestic abuse and suicide

The Kent and Medway Suicide Prevention (SP) team have been conducting unique research into the links between domestic abuse (DA) and suicide since 2019. Using Real Time Suicide Surveillance (RTSS) data supplied by Kent Police, our research has shown that approximately 30 per cent of all suspected suicides in Kent and Medway between January 2019 and January 2022 have been impacted by domestic abuse (either as a victim, perpetrator or as a young person. affected by the abuse). This case study was done jointly with the National Suicide Prevention Alliance and forms part of our suicide prevention resource.

Media monitoring and training: a collaboration with Samaritans’ Media Advisory Service, Oxfordshire County Council

Working together with the Samaritan’s Media Advisory Service to monitor local media reporting of suicides and provide training local media organisations to develop postvention reporting as a means of prevention. This case study was done jointly with the National Suicide Prevention Alliance and forms part of our suicide prevention resource.

Havering Council: Children and young people: mental health training and support for schools

Bringing together partners to support a whole school approach to mental health and the utilisation of a locally developed online resource setting out information on mental health and suicide prevention training and support for schools and families. This case study was done jointly with the National Suicide Prevention Alliance and forms part of our suicide prevention resource.

Devon County Council - Access to means: Devon Bridges

Using engineering and designing infrastructure as way to prevent suicide. This case study was done jointly with the National Suicide Prevention Alliance and forms part of our suicide prevention resource.

Cambridge: how a café is helping people to recover from substance misuse

The Edge Café in Cambridge provides support to people recovering from substance misuse and those with mental health problems by running recovery groups and providing opportunities for volunteering.

Newcastle: providing drug and alcohol rehab from a library

An element of drug and alcohol recovery support has been run from a community library since 2019 in Newcastle.