Suicide affects over one million people every year in the UK.

Please support our work to support individuals organisations impacted by suicide, based on knowledge and insights gained through direct, first-hand lived experience.

Over 6,000 people take their own life each year in the UK. Research tells us that 15 people are emotionally injured and 134 more emotionally affected by each of these deaths, which equates to not far off one million new people each and every year in the UK alone.

Suicide is the leading cause of death in men under 50 and young people under 35, with 3/4 of all deaths being men or boys. One in five of us experience thoughts of suicide at some point in our lives, with those bereaved by suicide at increased risk of suicide thoughts and actions thereafter.

An extreme life experience:

Suicide is an extreme life experience for many, often creating intensified responses that leave a life-lasting legacy. It has been described as "grief with the volume turned up".

The reality of life after suicide:

We know first-hand that the experiences of those bereaved or impacted by suicide can be devastating, complex and confusing. Despite experiences being unique between individuals, shared emotions, feelings and actions are often experienced, uniting us and forming the basis of our work.

What we do:

For individuals bereaved and impacted by suicide, we communicate and inform openly and honestly about life after suicide from a lived experience perspective. We express this through appropriate mediums online and in person, aimed to promote understanding, build community and provide targeted support as a result.

Our beliefs and aims:

- Provide a safe and trustworthy space for people to tell their stories

- Offer fresh perspectives on life after suicide

- Improve the care and treatment of those bereaved or impacted by suicide

- Listen with curiosity, speak with honesty and act with integrity

- Communicate openly, honestly and accessibly

- Inform and educate on matters affecting those bereaved or impacted by suicide

- Promote engagement, understanding, empowerment and hope

- Tackle stigma and misinformation around suicide

Beside Yourself was created in 2022 by Ellie Hatto, a "surthrivor" of bereavement by suicide and an accidental expert by experience.

Ellie has always been an advocate of honest and open conversation and communication on life after suicide, providing a clear identity, ethos and foundation for Beside Yourself.

She is also co-founder of Voices - People with Living Experience of Suicide (facilitated by Hampshire County Council Public Health, UK), non-executive director and trainer for Luna Foundation CIC and a volunteer peer support group facilitator for national charity Survivors of Bereavement by Suicide.

Ellie has also been involved in the design, delivery and evaluation of suicide-related projects alongside Hampshire and Isle of Wight Public Health teams, the NHS, police and not-for-profit partner organisations. She is also a Suicide First Aid trainer.

Recently, Ellie was selected to join the 2023 Media Spokesperson Network with Sounddelivery Media, a charity programme equipping leaders with lived experience with the skills and confidence to amplify their experience, tackle social injustice and create positive change.

Thank you for your support.

Beside Yourself CIC - https://besideyourself.org