On World Suicide Prevention Day, The Royal Foundation of The Prince and Princess of Wales launched On Your Side – a first-of-its-kind suicide prevention toolkit for UK sport.
Co-produced with the British Standards Institution and Chasing the Stigma, and adapted from the BS 30480 standard on suicide and the workplace, the toolkit gives everyone involved in sport – players, coaches, staff, volunteers and families – the confidence to recognise warning signs, start supportive conversations, and connect someone with help before they reach crisis point. It is designed to work at every level, from grassroots clubs to elite organisations, and is free to download.
Sporting Wellness was proud to be part of the expert panel that shaped the toolkit. Drawing on our experience providing free professional mental health support to athletes across more than 100 sports, our founder Callum Lea fed into its development throughout the year.
Following this work, Sporting Wellness was invited to the launch event at Hill Dickinson Stadium in Liverpool, where The Prince of Wales delivered the keynote address to leaders from across UK sport.
Our focus now is on helping the organisations we work with embed the toolkit properly – so that it becomes part of everyday practice, and so that anyone identified as needing support has somewhere to turn. The toolkit is free to download here:
https://hubofhope.co.uk/OnYourSide/
Photo credit – Kensington Palace
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