Youth Advisory Group - Suicide Prevention

In 2022 a new young people’s advisory group was launched as part of the National Suicide Prevention Strategy and Action Plan. The group was set up to make sure young people’s views are heard directly by decision-makers, to influence government policy.

The group is for young people aged 16-24 who have tried to take their
own life, or who have had suicidal thoughts. It is also for people who have had a bereavement by suicide (please note that two years must have passed if you have sadly lost someone through suicide for you to get involved) and those who suffer from poor mental health.

The group is an advisory group for Suicide Prevention Scotland (click here for more) and is supported by Children in Scotland and the University of Stirling (click here for more). These organisations also work with the National Suicide Prevention
Advisory Group to influence policy.

As we go into our third year of the project, we are now looking for new members.

Why should I get involved?

The group provides the opportunity to meet new people and share ideas. It creates a space to talk about how young people can get better support and experience better wellbeing.

Importantly, it’s a really good chance to be involved in making a change in Scotland and making sure young people’s views are heard.

Some of the meetings will be online, others will be in person. We meet roughly once a month. We will agree the sorts of topics we want to focus on as a group and discuss these.

To find out more about being involved in the Youth Advisory Group and how to get in touch, please click to view our information sheet.

What have we done so far and what is next? 

• We have shared our views on topics related to suicide prevention like Time, Space, Compassion (an approach being used to support people in suicidal crisis), the United to Prevent Suicide Social
Movement and on some research being done on the needs of children and young people
• We have spoken at various conferences about what we think needs to change for children and young people
• We created a case study video about the group to share what we do and our work
• Going forward we will spend some time working as a group and talk about topics that are important to you.

 Participation Network 

As part of our work to deliver the Suicide Prevention Youth Advisory Group, Children in Scotland and University of Stirling facilitate a wider participation network. This is to support us to continue to hear from other young people and the practitioners that work with them. 

The Participation Network ensures that  can hear from practitioners about their experiences of working with children and young people with experience of suicidality. 

The group meets bi-monthly and offers an opportunity for practitioners to learn about national work, feed into national policy development and share good practice.  

Find out more about the project 

For more information about this project or to enquire about involvement in our group or network, please contact Parisa Shirazi at pshirazi@childreninscotland.org.uk