Save young lives from suicide

Suicide is the leading killer of young people in the UK. Every day, an estimated 300 to 450 young people aged 16 to 35 attempt suicide, with rates now at their highest level in 30 years (Office for National Statistics, 2025). By age 17, 7% of young people have attempted suicide (YoungMinds, 2023).

Behind every statistic is a life. Yet too many lives are lost because our systems focus on crisis alone, leaving people trapped in a cycle of repeated distress and suicide attempts.

The current system waits for crisis, offers short-term interventions, and too often fails those facing the greatest barriers. We are calling on the Government to invest in long-term, evidence-based support that addresses not only suicidal crisis, but also the circumstances that can keep driving people back to it.

When someone reaches the point of attempting suicide, immediate support is vital. But too often, they are discharged back into the same conditions that contributed to their distress, without sustained access to the treatment and wider support they need.

That distress may be shaped by trauma, poverty, debt, discrimination, poor physical health, isolation or stigma. People often need specialist psychological treatment alongside practical support to rebuild their lives. Yet services frequently treat these as separate issues, delivered in isolation and for limited periods of time.

A person's life is not fragmented. Their support should not be either.

At Body & Soul, we have developed a pioneering approach to suicide prevention that combines evidence-based psychological treatment with long-term community, practical and wellbeing support centred around the whole person.

Because preventing suicide cannot be only about helping someone survive their darkest night. It must also be about changing what happens the next morning and in the months and years that follow. Our evidence demonstrates the potential of this approach, and its long-term impact is now being studied over five years.

We are calling on the Government to invest in sustained, integrated suicide prevention for those at greatest risk, including people who have attempted suicide and those affected by systemic inequalities.

Young people who are black or of colour, neurodivergent people and those from the LGBTQIA+ community continue to face additional barriers to accessing support when they need it most. Everyone deserves mental health care that understands their experiences, identity and needs.

That is why Body & Soul is calling on Prime Minister Andy Burnham and Health Secretary Yvette Cooper to invest in suicide prevention support that works for all young people.