The government has asked to work with families to help them shape policy in order to save lives.
The Scottish Government has asked families impacted by youth suicide to help them shape policy in order to save lives.
Ministers have asked the grieving parents of teenagers who took their own lives to contribute to the upcoming Suicide Prevention Programme, which is due to be republished in the New Year. The request was made via the Record’s Save Young Lives campaign, which was launched in October in response to a mental health crisis among kids.
As part of Save Young Lives, we have demanded urgent action to tackle this plight as harrowing figures show 26 per cent of deaths among young Scots are by probable suicide.
Mental Wellbeing and Social Care Minister Tom Arthur said: “I extend my sympathies and thank bereaved families, including those involved in the Daily Record’s Save Young Lives campaign, for highlighting the tragedy of suicide.
“I welcome the campaign and am keen to involve and include the families as we deliver our suicide prevention plans. I am committed to using every lever at my disposal to prevent suicide and ensure anyone at risk can access support, which will continue through Suicide Prevention Scotland and our new three-year action plan with COSLA, to be published early next year.”
The move comes just days after we reported that the The Citizen Participation and Public Petitions Committee rejected a petition from campaigners to teach prevention in schools. In a statement, the committee wrote: “The Citizen Participation and Public Petitions Committee has considered your petition at its meeting on 26 November 2025. “At that meeting, the Committee agreed to close your petition under Rule 15.7 of Standing Orders on the basis that there is no mandatory curriculum in Scotland.”
As part of Save Young Lives, we have demanded kids’ mental health waiting lists in Scotland to be reduced. The campaign was launched by us after we told how how youngsters south of the border are going to be educated in schools about suicide prevention as part of the curriculum.
The Record has demanded the same action in Scotland in order to turn the tide on tragedy. And we also ask every adult in Scotland to do their bit by ensuring they understand the key facts about youth suicide and where and when to seek help.
The Scottish Government will use the aims of our campaign and the input of families we have spoken to, to draft the policy, named Creating Hope Together. Creating Hope Together is a ten-year strategy and was launched in 2022.
A series of action plans are published every three years as part of the long-term policy. The upcoming action plan will be published in January and will run until 2029.
Its vision is to reduce the number of suicide deaths in Scotland while actively tackling the deep-rooted inequalities that contribute to suicide risk, such as poverty, discrimination, and social isolation. It operates on a “whole of government and whole society” approach, recognising that suicide prevention is everyone’s business.
Ministers have asked Ruth Moss, Mike Palmer and Susan Hart to contribute to the upcoming plans. Ruth Moss, 54, whose daughter Sophie took her own life in 2014, said their input would be “invaluable” to the policy.
Ruth, from Edinburgh, said: “It’s so important to listen to people who have lived experience with suicide. We are experts in the field and our voices are invaluable. If all governments listened to people who have lived these experiences, it would shape policy in such a more meaningful way.
“This is a positive step from our government, and I look forward to working with them on this.”
Susan Hart, from Rattray, Blairgowrie, lost her 16-year-old son Jordan to suicide in November 2020. The mum says her and other bereaved families’ input can help to turn the tide on tragedy.
She said: “This is what Scotland needs to tackle a youth suicide epidemic. We need the government to work at ground level with groups, individuals and charities that want to make a difference.
“We need the government to listen and admit it can’t do everything on its own. Our input to this is so important and will hopefully spare other families from the daily nightmare that we go through.”
Mike Palmer, from Manchester, is currently working with the Scottish Government on bringing lessons about education to schools north of the border. The dad, who works alongside other fathers in the Three Dads Walking group, lost his 17-year-old daughter Beth in the same year Jordan died.
The 60-year-old previously told the Record that suicide prevention classes in mainstream education can deliver a plan for addressing suicide safely and ensure school staff are appropriately trained. He met with education secretary Jenny Gilruth last month.
Mike said: “This is a hugely positive step. We’ve been passionate about the fact that suicide prevention should be on the school cririculum in england.
“The reason we’re working with Scotland now is because we believe no child should miss out. I’m very encouraged by this and what it means for our young children.
“To hear from families with living experience of suicide is invaluavble. You don’t just lose that one person, it takes a chunk out of their friends and colleagues. It’s devastating – suicide has its own unquire angle of grief and how it affects those around them.”
