Glasgow suicide prevention work highlighted at national conference

Suicide prevention training in Glasgow has been showcased on a national stage, as local work led by the Glasgow City Suicide Prevention Partnership (GCSPP) was highlighted at a major workforce conference.

Suicide remains a significant public health concern across Scotland, affecting individuals, families, communities and workplaces. While the causes are often complex, experts stress that early intervention and well-trained support can help increase safety and save lives.

The GCSPP, which brings together a range of local organisations, works to tackle the issue through coordinated community action. Its approach includes raising awareness, delivering training and improving how services respond to people in distress.

In recognition of this work, the partnership’s Training Subgroup was selected to present a poster at NHS Education for Scotland’s National Workforce and Education Conference 2026. The event, themed ‘Collaborate. Innovate. Transform: Delivering change towards improving health, social care and other public services in Scotland,’ took place on 23 and 24 April.

The poster highlighted the aims and outcomes of the 2024 impact evaluations of two key suicide prevention training programmes: ASIST (Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training) and safeTALK.

Both programmes are designed to equip frontline staff with the skills and confidence to identify and support individuals who may be experiencing thoughts of suicide.

Across Scotland, an average of two people die by suicide every day. However, research shows that many individuals signal their distress in some way, offering opportunities for intervention when people around them are prepared to respond effectively.

As part of Glasgow’s wider commitment to reducing suicide - aligned with Scotland’s national strategy and action plan, Creating Hope Together - the GCSPP delivers ASIST and safeTALK training to a broad range of frontline and interprofessional staff. These include workers across health, social care and other public services.

The poster presentation demonstrated how evidence-based, collaborative training is helping to strengthen both local and national suicide prevention efforts. It also outlined how the programmes are contributing to increased confidence and capability among staff to recognise ways to help and provide appropriate support.

The 2024 report marks the second formal impact evaluation produced by the GCSPP Training Subgroup. Its findings have attracted recognition not only locally in Glasgow but also internationally, including acknowledgement from LivingWorks, the Canadian organisation behind ASIST and safeTALK.

Meanwhile, the latest impact evaluation reports for 2025 have recently been completed and are now being shared more widely, continuing to build understanding of how training can make a difference in preventing suicide.

The partnership hopes that sharing these findings at a national level will encourage further collaboration and investment in prevention efforts, ultimately helping to reduce the number of lives lost to suicide.

Larry Callary, Chair of the Glasgow City Suicide Prevention Partnership Training Subgroup stated that “The ASIST and safeTALK Training workshops are a valuable element within the huge efforts by the Glasgow City Suicide Prevention Partnership, chaired by Trevor Lakey, to support staff to help those with thoughts of suicide. These Impact Evaluation Reports demonstrate that the training is making a real difference. We were honoured to have been selected to display the results at the recent NES Conference and also for LivingWorks in Canada to publish these on their social media platforms."

For more information: Applied suicide intervention skills training (ASIST) impact evaluation report for 2025 and safeTALK impact evaluation report for 2025.