A CHARITY based in Gloucestershire has been attracting national attention for its pioneering methods for saving people on the brink of suicide.

Suicide Crisis has been running a Suicide Crisis Centre and Trauma Centre in Cheltenham since 2013.

In September, the Government’s adviser on suicide, Louis Appleby, approached the charity to ask them to give a presentation about their work to the national advisory group on suicide prevention, which he chairs.

Representatives of the charity have also been asked to speak to the select committee on suicide prevention in parliament this month, after its work was highlighted as “best practice” in suicide prevention.

Run entirely by volunteers, the charity has never had a suicide of a client under its care, which includes 24/7 one-to-one support.

Last month a BBC film crew spent three days shadowing members of the team at Suicide Crisis to show the work of this unique organisation, and this will go out as a national news item to show why the Crisis Centre is needed.

NHS managers and psychiatrists in other parts of the country are also keen to learn from the charity and their model of a successful Crisis Centre is influencing future NHS services.

A strategic manager from Avon and Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust (AWP) will meet with the charity this month for advice on launching a new crisis service in Bristol.

Representatives from the charity will also speak about their ethos and way of working to consultant and trainee psychiatrists in Hertfordshire to help their professional training.

Joy Hibbins, the founder and CEO of the charity, said: “Four years ago, while I was in crisis myself, I came up with the idea of a Suicide Crisis Centre.

“I think very few people really believed that a person with significant mental health challenges, who had recently been suicidal, could make it happen. It is extraordinary to think that, four years later, we are now an example of how to run a service which achieves zero suicide, and government advisers and others want to learn from us.

“We could never have imagined this happening. Back in 2012, I just knew it was needed so much and that it had to be set up. We needed a new type of Crisis Centre that would provide something very different. ”

Joy attempted suicide twice in 2012 and was later diagnosed with bipolar disorder and a post-traumatic syndrome. She describes both conditions as “incredibly challenging”.

Suicide Crisis can be contacted on 07975 974455 or via their website www.suicidecrisis.co.uk