Congratulations to our preventing suicide and self-harm theme for receiving a ‘Highly Commended Award’ for Outstanding Public Engagement Initiative: National/International Engagement at this year’s Making a Difference Awards, hosted by the University of Manchester (UoM). This is an outstanding recognition for their work in developing and sharing best practices for Patient and Public Involvement and Engagement (PPIE) in suicide prevention research, through the co-design and delivery of open-access PPIE toolkits.

The recipients of this award include 12 public contributors from the Mutual Support for Mental Health-Research (MS4MH-R) group and a team of researchers and operational staff from the NIHR Greater Manchester Patient Safety Research Collaboration (GM PSRC) and the National Confidential Inquiry into Suicide and Safety in Mental Health (NCISH).

Recipients: Dr Leah Quinlivan, Dan Stears, Liz Monaghan, Sadika Asmal, Jav Rehman, Jon Smith, Manoj Mistry, Dawn Allen, Lynne Keady, Tom Bell, Tracy Neil, Fiona Naylor, David Daniels, Louise Gorman, Sarah Steeg, Jane Graney, Catherine Rodway, Pauline Turnbull, Roger Webb, Nav Kapur, Alison Baird, Jessica Leather, Ioannis Angelaskis, Mary Vingoe, Katerina Kavalidou, Melissa Lima Silva, and Harriet Cant, Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health 

The Making a Difference Awards recognise the outstanding achievements of the UoM staff, students, alumni and external partners, and celebrate how they are making a difference in local communities and the wider society. The 2025 ceremony was held on the 8th of May (Thursday) at the University’s Whitworth Hall. The livestream recording is available on the University’s YouTube channel. 

Dan Stears, Elizabeth Monaghan and Dr Leah Quinlivan on stage receiving the Making a Difference Award

The award was received by Dan Stears, public contributor and Non-Executive Lay Board Member of the NIHR GM PSRC, Elizabeth Monaghan, public contributor and member of the NIHR GM PSRC Public and Community Involvement and Engagement (PCIE) Advisory Group, and Dr Leah Quinlivan, project lead and research fellow at the NIHR GM PSRC.

Receiving this Highly Commended Award is an outstanding recognition of the excellent work carried out by the NIHR GM PSRC, NCISH, and MS4MH-R team in co-designing and delivering open-access resources to share learning and best practice, enabling more meaningful PPIE in suicide prevention research.

The team’s highly commended PPIE toolkits for suicide prevention research, which are freely available for download, are already being used by organisations and universities internationally.

Elizabeth Monaghan: “As Public Contributors with Lived Experience, it’s wonderful to have this level of recognition for what we bring to the work of this great institution”.

 

Dan Stears: “It was great to receive the prestigious University of Manchester, Making a Difference Awards, ‘Highly Commended Award for Outstanding Public Engagement Initiative’, given the calibre of people and projects we were up against. To even be considered in the same category was a privilege and it highlights the amazing work that MS4MH-R, GMPSRC & NCISH have done over the years”.

Dan Stears and Elizabeth Monaghan

Dr Leah Quinlivan: “We’re proud that our PPIE team, MS4MH-R has been recognised for their outstanding contributions to involvement and engagement in self-harm and suicide prevention. From those early days chatting over tea and cake, our members have grown into leaders and innovators. They’ve become researchers, co-authors, grant reviewers and co-applicants, keynote speakers, and many have taken on prestigious roles. The University of Manchester is known for its excellence in social responsibility and world-class research, and I’m delighted that we’re contributing our own work as part of this thriving and inclusive community.”

About the MS4MH-R

Mutual Support for Mental Health-Research (MS4MH-R) is a group of people who have experience of self-harm, suicidality, or mental illness as either patients or carers.

The group uses their wealth of perspectives, insights and experience to help researchers at the University of Manchester in the design, delivery, and sharing of mental health research. The group act as ‘critical partners’ ensuring the research is relevant, focused and has a positive impact.

The group works with researchers from the NIHR Greater Manchester Patient Safety Research Collaboration (GM PSRC), NCISH, and the Centre for Mental Health and Safety.

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