Stay Alive - UK's 1st Suicide Prevention App

by grassrootssuicideprevention in Brighton, England, United Kingdom

We did it
On 14th October 2016 we successfully raised £1,485 with 42 supporters in 35 days

With your donation our suicide prevention app can help save more lives.

by grassrootssuicideprevention in Brighton, England, United Kingdom

#GiveAndGetAppy

The first of its kind in the UK, the Stay Alive app is a free, nationwide suicide prevention pocket resource, packed full of useful information to help you stay safe. Our vision is that no one has to contemplate suicide alone, and the app is designed to be a lifeline for people at risk of suicide. Research and feedback has shown that the app is already having a significant impact helping people choose to stay alive. Your donations will help us improve the app further by adding new features in response to user and developer feedback.   

Stay Alive – Saving Lives:

We believe that suicide is a community health problem and demands a community response. The latest statistics recorded over 6,000 suicides in the UK, equivalent to 17 deaths by suicide every day. At Grassroots Suicide Prevention we believe that suicide is preventable and we encourage open, honest and direct conversations about suicide. We launched our (now award-winning) UK based suicide prevention app on World Suicide Prevention Day 2014, hoping it would encourage help-seeking and reach those who would not normally access mental health services or similar support. Grassroots designed and developed the content, with funding support from Network Rail, Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust, and the developers, Switchplane.

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Stay Alive is totally free to users and offers help and support both to people with thoughts of suicide and to those concerned about someone. It is available on Google Play and the iTunes App Store. Most features can be accessed offline (yes, you don't need wifi!) and can be customised to suit your needs.

Since its launch in 2014 we have received incredible feedback from community members and professionals alike, telling us how the app has helped them or someone else to stay safe from suicide. However, we know from consultation and our own experience that the app can still be improved to help save even more lives… and that’s why we’re asking for your help.

Here are just a few key features:

  • Quick access to national crisis support helplines, as well as some local resources - we plan to roll this out across other UK regions soon!
  • A mini- safety plan generator
  • LifeBox: A place to store life-affirming photos and images
  • Life-saving tips: How to stay safe from suicide
  • Life-saving tips: How to help someone at risk of suicide
  • Suicide myth-busting 

To find out more about Stay Alive please click here.

Achievements so far:

  • 16K downloads to date
  • Winner of a national Patient Safety Award for Using Technology and IT to improve Patient Safety
  • Winner of an Innovation Award from the Sussex Clinical Commissioning Groups
  • Included as a National Inspiration on the Crisis Care Concordat website

Feedback from our users:

We received over 220 responses to our Stay Alive app evaluation survey and we want to share the results with you.  

We found users downloaded Stay Alive for several reasons: some for their own use, some because they were worried about a friend or loved one, and some in a professional capacity to help improve their general knowledge of suicide prevention and to share with clients, patients, and other people they work with.

We were very happy to find that 31%of users have helped themselves to stay safe from suicide using the app, and 76% of users said the app has enabled them to help someone else stay safe. In fact, some users selected more than one option, meaning for some the app has helped them and someone else stay safe from suicide.

We asked users what they thought was the most useful feature of the app. Many of the features were popular, but overall the 'Safety Plan' function was highlighted as a key feature. Therefore we thought it was important to enhance this feature as part of the proposed upgrade. 

We asked users whether they would like to see any new features on the app. Many respondents suggested we expand the LifeBox to include the capability to add music. This could help those in crisis to connect with life through sound, and feel more relaxed in a crisis. We thought this was a great idea and have included this to the 'wish list' of upgrades.

Overall we found users would like to see a general upgrade of the look and appearance of the app, with improved access and guided navigation. We agreed the app could do with a design refresh and so have added it to the list below.

We’re also aware that the current local crisis resources only cover Brighton & Hove and Sussex, and users want us to extend this functionality. We are working with a number of Mental Health and Public Health bodies, securing funding to bring local resources for other areas around the country to the app. If this is an area you can help with professionally then please do contact Grassroots directly.

What we want to improve:

We’d like to introduce new features to make the app more streamlined, user-friendly and effective:

  • A cloud-based software upgrade to keep information fresh and engaging
  • Introduce alerts and sharing functions to help keep users connected with those who are supporting them, including the sharing of safety plans
  • The addition of music and voice recording functionality to the LifeBox
  • A design refresh to improve user experience and make it easier to navigate around the app 

How YOU can help:

We’re aiming to raise a total of £20,000 to add new features to the app and launch an improved version for our users.

This is your opportunity to help save a life - what could possibly be more amazing than that?

Please donate as much as you can and share this important campaign with all your contacts. Thank you!

 Pledges and Rewards:

  • £5 - a thank you email from the Grassroots Team

  • £15 - a thank you certificate from the Grassroots Team

  • £25 -  a thank you video from our CEO

    + a thank you certificate from the Grassroots Team

  • £50 - your name will be added to a 'wall of fame' on our website

    + a thank you video from our CEO 

    + a thank you certificate from the Grassroots Team

  • £100 - (Business/Organisation Supporter) your logo on our website 

    + a thank you certificate from the Grassroots Team

  • £200 - a friendly coffee with a team member to learn about what we do OR a personalised thank you video  (limited availability) 

    + a thank you certificate from the Grassroots Team

  • £500 - 2 places on our safeTALK suicide alertness program (limited availability - must be willing to travel to Brighton & Hove for this course) 

    + a thank you certificate from the Grassroots Team

  • £1,000 - a spotlight news story on our website (equivalent to 3 weeks of advertising - viewable on every page) 

    + a thank you certificate from the Grassroots Team

  • £2,000 - 1 hour with a team member, or a presentation to your organisation or group including micro-teaching about suicide prevention (locations in either Brighton, London or Birmingham, must redeem by the end of January 2017) 

    + a thank you certificate from the Grassroots Team

As a thank you to everyone who pledges to support this campaign we will give you a shout out across our social media channels; Facebook and Twitter. 

Please spread the word using the hashtag #GiveAndGetAppy to make others aware of our crowdfunding campaign so that they can get involved too!

Together we can support our communities to prevent suicide.

Registered Charity: 1149873 

Rewards

This project offers rewards in return for your donation. Please select a reward below.

£1 or more

£1 Reward

A BIG thank you from the Grassroots Team

£5 or more

£5 Reward

A thank you email from the Grassroots Team

£15 or more

£15 Reward

A thank you certificate from the Grassroots Team

£25 or more

£25 Reward

A thank you video from our CEO + a thank you certificate from the Grassroots Team

£50 or more

£50 Reward

Your name will be added to a 'wall of fame' on our website + a thank you video from our CEO + a thank you certificate from the Grassroots Team

£100 or more

£100 Reward

Your logo on our website (Business/Organisation Supporter) + a thank you certificate from the Grassroots Team

£200 or more

1 of 10 claimed

£200 Reward

A friendly coffee with a team member to learn about what we do, OR a personalised thank you video (limited availability) + a thank you certificate from the Grassroots Team

£500 or more

0 of 15 claimed

£500 Reward

2 places on our safeTALK suicide alertness program (limited availability - must be willing to travel to Brighton & Hove for this course) + a thank you certificate from the Grassroots Team

£1,000 or more

£1,000 Reward

A spotlight news story on our website (equivalent to 3 weeks of advertising - viewable on every page) + a thank you certificate from the Grassroots Team

£2,000 or more

£2,000 Reward

1 hour in-house suicide prevention micro-teaching session (Locations in either Brighton, London or Birmingham, must redeem by the end of January 2017) + a thank you certificate from the Grassroots Team

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