Suicide prevention project scoops top award
Press release: 8 July 2011
A University of Manchester researcher and entrepreneur who turned a suicide training project into a successful social enterprise has won an ‘Outstanding Social Impact’ award.
Dr Gill Green, from the School of Community Based Medicine, received the honour for her project STORM at the Higher Education Social Entrepreneurship Champions of Change Recognition Awards.
The awards were unveiled at the national ‘Dare to be Different’ conference in June, organised by UnLtd, the Foundation for Social Entrepreneurs and the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE). This is the second award Gill has received; she also won an UnLtd ‘Dare to be Different’ award in December 2010.
Gill said: “I am so proud that STORM has received this very prestigious award. The competition was extremely strong, with some great work across the country from a number of higher education institutions. We are truly privileged to have won this award. It is recognition that STORM is making a difference and is valued.”
The awards highlight exceptional achievements and positive change brought about by universities, staff and students in creating and encouraging entrepreneurial ideas and social ventures.
Dr Martin Henery, HEFCE Social Enterprise Ambassador for The University of Manchester, said: "This award reflects the strong desire and abilities of both students and staff from this University to create sustainable solutions to some of the bigger social problems that currently face us."
Attempting to reduce the suicide rate is a key international health priority; the World Health Organisation estimates that one person will die by suicide every 40 seconds worldwide. To date there has been little skills training in suicide prevention provided to professionals in the UK whose interventions could make the difference between life and death.
Since 2003 the STORM project has offered suicide prevention training packages on a not-for-profit basis for use in the health care, social care, criminal justice and education services. Frontline staff from a range of adult and children’s services, schools and prisons have benefited from the training with many regarding it highly.
Gill added: “I hope to build on this success and increase our social impact in the future. The profits we make will help research and development as well as to provide subsidised or free training for community groups in the UK and internationally.”
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Notes to editors:
- STORM® is a registered trademark and part of the UK government’s suicide prevention strategies. It has been taken up by many organisations across the UK, the Republic of Ireland, Jersey and Malta.
- STORM® has been delivered free of charge to Psychiatrists in Russia, Pakistan and Bangladesh where training is difficult to fund. New packages are being developed and piloted for new markets, including occupational health and higher education (for staff working with students).
- STORM® began as a research project in the mid-1990s and formed a social enterprise, not-for-profit organisation closely tied to The University of Manchester. Gill received support from the University through Dr Sonia Nikolovski, venture manager at UMIP, the University’s agent for intellectual property commercialisation, and Dr Martin Henery, Enterprise Academic at the Manchester Enterprise Centre. Martin and Sonia are now working with Gill to see how they could learn from her experiences in order to better support future staff/student-led social enterprises in the future.
Further information
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The University of Manchester
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