Isaac Samuels | Building the Space, Co-Production Collective
Content warning: This story contains references to mental health, suicide and experiences of harm within services.
On the 1st of June, we launched Building the Space — a year-long campaign led by myself, Isaac Samuels OBE, dedicated to a simple but overdue idea: that racialised communities deserve to be seen, heard, and centred in how we understand and respond to suicide.
This campaign is deeply personal to me.
As a racialised person, there were times when I reached out for support and felt unseen. The services around me did not always understand the impact of racism, identity and the inequalities that shaped my experiences. Too often, the care I needed was not there in the way it should have been.
I survived, but many others have not.
That is why this campaign matters so much. It is about making sure that people from racialised communities are heard, valued and supported with care that understands the whole person. Together, we can build a future where fewer lives are lost, where communities are listened to, and where suicide prevention is rooted in equity, compassion and hope.
For too long, the evidence base that shapes suicide prevention policy has left gaps where racialised experiences should be. Grief has gone unspoken. Risk has gone unrecognised. And too many people have felt that support was not built with them in mind — that their race, identity, or lived experience of racism stood between them and the help they needed.
Building the Space exists to close that gap.
Over the next year, we will be gathering the living experiences of people who have faced suicidality, or who have been bereaved by suicide, using a methodology called Community Reporting — simple, accessible digital tools that let people tell their own stories, in their own words, at their own pace. No clinical forms. No gatekeeping. Just space to speak, and to be heard.
These stories will form a genuine evidence base — one shaped by real experience rather than assumption — to help shape the next national Suicide Prevention Strategy in 2028. Our hope is straightforward: that no one is ever unable to access the support they need because of their race, their identity, or their experience of racism.
This is where you come in
If you have lived through suicidality or been touched by the loss of someone to suicide, your story matters — and it could help change what support looks like for the people who come after you. Sharing takes only as much as you’re ready to give, and every story is treated with care, dignity, and confidentiality.
To share your story, please reach out below.
Thank you for helping us build the space that so many have been waiting for. Read more about the campaign: communityreporter.net
We would love you to join us on this important journey. Together, we can amplify the voices of racialised communities, share learning, influence policy and practice, and build a future where suicide prevention is shaped by the people and communities most affected.
If your organisation shares our commitment to equity, inclusion and lived experience, we would be delighted to welcome you as a partner. Together, we can make a lasting difference.
If anything in this post has raised difficult feelings for you, please know that support is available. In the UK, you can contact Samaritans free, any time, on 116 123, or visit samaritans.org.
