A new resource to support adults at risk of self‑harm or suicide was launched in May at The University of Manchester’s Whitworth Art Gallery, at an event hosted by the NIHR Greater Manchester Patient Safety Research Collaboration.

Jay’s Personalised Safety Planning Toolkit is a co‑designed set of materials created with researchers, people with lived experience of suicide and self‑harm, and healthcare professionals. It offers a more personalised approach to safety planning within health and care settings, supporting meaningful conversations around self‑harm and suicide.

Inspired by the family of Jaymie Mart, known as Jay, who died by suicide in 2012 at the age of 32, the toolkit – which was funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) – offers clear, practical guidance to help adults create and review personalised safety plans.

Jay’s mother, Paula Mart, has played a key role in shaping the research, sharing her experiences to help improve support for people during times of acute mental health crisis and to prevent deaths by suicide. She said:

“The toolkit helps as a guide in understanding and setting up an individualised safety plan for people in difficult times. They can help to change a mindset during times of crisis, that will hopefully keep them safe until they can get help,  if needed, from family, friends or mental health professionals.”

When describing the new resource, Katherine McGleenan, nurse consultant in suicide prevention research and lead of Jay’s study, said:

“We know suicide can be prevented, however often people don’t know how to help or where to find support, for themselves or others. We can all make a difference, whatever role we are in. Jay’s toolkit is a powerful resource to help increase understanding, skills and confidence of how to support personalised safety planning. It might help someone who’s struggling and could potentially save lives.”

Katherine McGleenan speaking at the event, with a photo of Jay Mart in the background.

Manchester launch event

Paula Mart’s recorded message playing at the launch event in Manchester

Participants also had the opportunity to hear from Paula Mart, Jay’s mother, about how their lived experiences inspired and shaped the creation of this new toolkit.

The event aimed to strengthen community understanding of personalised safety planning and improve access to supportive, evidence‑based resources.

Nav Kapur, Professor of Psychiatry and Population Health at the University of Manchester and Preventing Suicide and Self-harm research theme co-lead at the NIHR Greater Manchester Patient Safety Research Collaboration, said:

“Safety Plans can be a vital component of mental health care but it’s really important they meaningfully involve the person themselves. I was delighted to be part of this important project, which had co-production at its heart.” 

Photo gallery

Safety plans are structured tools that support people experiencing self‑harm or suicidal thoughts by helping them identify strategies to stay safe during a crisis.

Jay’s Personalised Safety Planning Toolkit, freely available online, provides clear, practical support to help create and review personalised safety plans for adults.

“If my daughter had a personalised safety plan and had known what to do when she was in difficulty, I am convinced she would have been with us today. This is why I am so passionate about this work, and Jaymie’s spirit is my inspiration. A personalised safety plan goes so much deeper than just a piece of paper. It holds the hope for someone.” 

 

Paula Mart, Jay’s mother

 

Jay’s toolkit was developed as a result of ‘Jay’s Study’, a research project funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Research for Patient Benefit Programme. The work was led by a team of researchers based across the universities of Manchester, Teesside and Northumbria, supported by the NIHR Greater Manchester Patient Safety Research Collaboration (GM PSRC) and the NIHR Applied Research Collaboration (ARC) North East and North Cumbria.

Jay’s study team and The Lawnmowers at the event

Rebecca Lilley, a lived experience peer researcher participant in the study, said:

“Working with the research team has been a really positive experience. For the first time, I felt like people actually listened to me and understood my story. I wasn’t made to feel like a problem, and I was treated as an equal, not just someone there to share a story. It’s been refreshing and has given me a bit more faith, especially compared to a lot of my past experiences.

“I think Jay’s personalised safety planning toolkit is really needed. There should be a more consistent approach, and people should at least be offered safety planning when they’re experiencing suicidal thoughts. I wasn’t given that choice [when I reached out for help].

“I think this toolkit could help reduce suicide and self-harm in a couple of ways. If more people have a safety plan that actually means something to them, it could give them that crucial window for things to calm down, whether that’s through a distraction, a coping strategy or reaching out to someone. It might stop them acting on those thoughts in that moment.”

Rebecca Lilley speaking at the Manchester launch event in May

Another member of the research team, Wendy Hope, added:

“Jay’s Safety Planning Toolkit is designed to demonstrate that by making a safety plan which is individual to the person and their support team more positive, empowering hopeful outcomes may be achieved. Of course, none of this would have taken place if it had not also been drawn from the experiences of those with lived experience who attended workshops, focus groups steering groups and provided feedback from the roadshows, for their contribution we are extremely grateful for making this a real-life framework.”

Wendy Hope speaking at the Manchester launch event in May

Jay’s study

The toolkit work is based on research evidence and was co-designed with people who have lived experience, alongside health and social care professionals. It has been developed to support good-quality, personalised safety planning in practice. It follows national guidance, including recommendations from NICE and the NHS.

Jay’s Study built on a previous study funded by the NIHR Applied Research Collaboration (ARC) North East and North Cumbria that explored the lived experience of safety planning with the aim of finding out the elements most likely to make them most helpful to the individual themselves (McGleenan et al., 2025).

Photos by Tracey Gibbs

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