Protect Life Implementation Groups

A process of application for community and voluntary sector members to the Belfast Protect Life Implementation Group (BPLIG) will be launched on Monday 3 July with a closing date of Monday 14 August.

The three-year membership term will run from November 2023-August 2026.

The process seeks to recruit 12 Community and Voluntary sector representatives to a three-year membership of the Belfast Protect Life Implementation Group. Belfast Protect Life Implementation Group is a strategic group for the city of Belfast that works to ensure implementation of Protect Life 2 (PL2), The Suicide Prevention Strategy for Northern Ireland (2019 -2024) at a local level - Protect Life 2 - Suicide Prevention Strategy | Department of Health (health-ni.gov.uk).

As a long-term strategy for reducing suicides and the incidence of self-harm with action delivered across a range of government departments, agencies, and sectors it recognises that no single organisation or service is able to influence all the complex interacting factors that lead someone to harming themselves or, ultimately, to taking their own life. PL2, recognises the critical role that communities have in suicide prevention and Local PLIGs create a mechanism for better linkages and understanding between statutory service providers and community and voluntary sector representatives at a local level and ensure input from their locality into the Regional Strategy Implementation Steering Group (RSISG) and vice versa.

All existing community and voluntary sector members of BPLIG will step down after the August 2023 meeting and may reapply for the new intake. Statutory membership will be sourced to reflect membership of the Regional Protect Life Group and as such sits outside a membership application process.

The membership application process will be scored by an independent panel.

In line with Regional & Belfast PLIG Terms of Reference, the new group will be co-chaired by PHA and a member elected from amongst the community and voluntary sector.

As part of this process two community and voluntary representatives will be elected to the Regional PLIG to act as a two way conduit on behalf of BPLIG.

In order to apply for membership and to receive an application pack please contact Lesley Blackstock on e-mail Lesley.Blackstock@hscni.net

Successful candidates will be notified by email and invited to an induction session in early October in advance of their first meeting in November 2023.

Applications from under-represented groups will be particularly welcomed and we will seek to include service user/lived experience/family/carer representation.