A new initiative has launched in Cheshire & Merseyside which aims to give local people with lived experience of self-harm and/or suicide the opportunity to share their views and contribute to ongoing suicide prevention work in the region.

The Cheshire and Merseyside Lived Experience Network (LEN) offers an opportunity for those people who have been through these difficulties to voice their opinions and express their views from their personal experience. Whether you have had thoughts of suicide or have made attempts, have self-harmed or had thoughts of harming yourself, if you have been bereaved by suicide, or have been affected in any other way - your experiences are important.

The LEN will bring together a group of people from across the sub-region with a range of experiences to co-develop and co-deliver on the aims of the NO MORE Suicide Strategy. The Cheshire and Merseyside NO MORE Suicide Strategy and Action Plan have been developed to work towards the prevention of self-harm and suicide across the region. The local strategy and action plan are based on the national strategy.

The vision of the NO MORE Suicide Strategy is that:

Cheshire and Merseyside is a region where suicides are eliminated, where people do not consider suicide as a solution to the difficulties they face. A region that supports people at a time of personal crisis and builds individual and community resilience for improved lives.

There will be a range of different ways people can get involved including reading and commenting on proposed strategy documents, attending focus groups, attending the NO MORE Suicide Partnership Board, task group, or local authority group meetings, or taking part in specific workshops influencing a particular piece of work. How and when you get involved is up to you.

The Lived Experience Network is being launched and coordinated by Wirral Mind, on behalf of the NO MORE Suicide Partnership Board.

For more information or to register your interest to join the Cheshire and Merseyside Lived Experience Network please contact Wirral Mind via learning@wirralmind.org.uk; alternatively you can call on 0151 512 2200 or visit https://no-more.co.uk/join-our-lived-experience-network/

You can find more information about the work of the NO MORE Suicide Partnership Board, including the strategy at www.no-more.co.uk