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Calling on Communities to Enable Life – WISE Steps Suicide Prevention

Supported by Birmingham City Council Public Health, Common Unity is excited to announce the relaunch of the Community Connector Suicide Prevention Programme. If you live or work in Birmingham and wish to secure a place, please contact us for more information. The aim of the programme is to better enable communities to tackle suicide and […]

A community approach to preventing suicide

Suicide is a phenomenon that devastates communities the world over. So, it makes sense that to have an impact on suicide, we need to skill up community representatives to roll out suicide prevention skills to their communities. We are putting communities centre stage in the fight to prevent suicide. The Wise Steps Gatekeeper training has […]

WMHD2021 – Stalls booking form

The Big Inclusive get together & World Mental Health Day Festival Venue: The Midlands Greek & Cypriot AssociationMagnet CentrePark ApproachBirminghamB23 7SJ Friday 8th October 2021 As part of World Mental Health Day and The Big Inclusive Get together, Common Unity, Forward For Life and Community Flow will be working in partnership to see the coming […]

Our Collaborative Approach

Providing upstream solutions to community wide health & wellbeing challenges. We work tirelessly to make a real difference at a grassroots level within communities. We recognise the urgent need to provide health and wellbeing programmes that have communities at the heart; this is through delivering a range of programmes which focus on an upstream approach […]

Suicide doesn’t discriminate

Suicide takes thousands of lives per year in the UK. Years of love, memories, relationships and possibilities are lost each time a person dies by suicide. We are losing our family members, our friends, our neighbours and work colleagues. It affects every community so we need to support our communities to have to prevent suicide […]

WISE STEPS – Suicide Prevention Gatekeeper Training (online)

WISE STEPS is an online ‘gatekeeper’ training workshop built on years of experience and best evidenced based approaches in the field of suicide prevention. Designed, developed and delivered by Forward For Life and Common Unity, WISE STEPS provides a strong foundation for those seeking the tools needed to support people who may be struggling with […]

LITA – Life is the AIM online training

LITA (Life is the AIM) was developed by Forward For Life and Common Unity with the recognition that in today’s uncertain times there is an ever pressing need to provide people with gatekeeper skills training in suicide prevention through an online platform.  Directed at organisations and communities, LITA is a short and practical 2.5 hour online introduction to supporting people with […]

ManMade

The Background to ManMade Forward For Life, in partnership with Common Unity and associates developed ManMade to empower are men to have the strategies and coping skills to manage the challenges they may experience as a result of job loss including reduced financial income, loss of time structure, isolation, loss of purpose and changes in identity and relationship […]

SafeTALK

Nearly 6000 people take their own lives across the UK each year. safeTALK is a half-day course that offers you practical steps to help someone with thoughts of suicide and helps you both to connect with more specialised support. The safeTALK course was developed by LivingWorks in Canada and is delivered worldwide. It complements our more comprehensive […]

ASIST

Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training (ASIST) trains frontline staff in early intervention. The 15-hour workshop held over two days teaches participants to connect, understand and assist people who may be at risk of suicide. Saving Lives Through Suicide Prevention Skills – The Two Day ASIST Course is suitable for people from all walks of life. […]

Reaching a milestone

The Waiting Room (TWR) Team are proud to present a milestone in community engagement. In the last twelve months TWR have had over 100,000 visits to the website by Birmingham and Solihull communities. The smart online directory has offered support to professionals and the citizens within our communities across Birmingham and Solihull. It has played […]

Getting the message out in many different ways

Getting the message out in many different ways has always been a core message from Common Unity in respect of the importance of good health and wellbeing across communities. However, with the devastating impact of Coronavirus, the importance of getting the messages out there to help people keep themselves and their loved ones around them […]

The Excellence in Third Sector Award

Early in 2020 we were excited to be told that we had been shortlisted for the Greater Birmingham Chambers of Commerce Award “Excellence in The Third Sector.” This nomination was alongside 7 other local organisations who provide essential community support across our region. The other nominees were: Black Country Living Museum Breast Cancer Haven, West […]

SCHEMA – An Approach to Suicide Prevention

SCHEMA is a suicide prevention course that supports professionals and community members in effectively helping people with suicidal thoughts. Suicide doesn’t discriminate Death by suicide is devastating and far reaching across our communities. It takes 3 times more lives per year in the UK than lives lost in accidents on all our roads. The most […]

Introducing LITA our two hour interactive online workshop

LITA (Life is the AIM) Suicide prevention gatekeeper training was developed by Forward For Life and Common Unity with the recognition that in today’s uncertain times there is an ever pressing need to provide people from all walks of life with gatekeeper skills training in suicide prevention through an online platform. What you will learn: […]

Our Community recommendations on wearing face masks

It is important that all our communities are aware of the recommendations when it comes to wearing face mask. With the input of Healthy Brum (Public Health Birmingham) here is the most up to date information on wearing face masks in 12 different languages. Please find below translations in 12 languages, on where and how […]

Independent Review of the Mental Health Act 1983: supporting documents

The Mental Health Act Review African and Caribbean group (MHARAC) has been established to support the aims of the Independent Review. MHARAC will make recommendations designed to ensure that people of African andCaribbean descent with mental health challenges receive the treatment and support they need, when and where they need it, are treated with dignity, […]

BLACK, ASIAN AND MINORITY ETHNIC STUDENT ATTAINMENT AT UK UNIVERSITIES: #CLOSINGTHEGAP

FOREWORD BY BARONESS VALERIE AMOS, DIRECTOR, SOAS UNIVERSITY OF LONDON When the extent of the BAME attainment gap in universities was brought to my attention, I was shocked, because universities should be places where opportunity and aspiration come together. Of course I knew that, given its extent in society, discrimination would exist in our universities. […]

The Lammy Review

An independent review into the treatment of, and outcomes for, Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic individuals in the Criminal Justice System. Across England and Wales, people from minority ethnic backgrounds are breaking through barriers. More students from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) backgrounds are achieving in school and going to university. 1 There is […]

Beyond the data: Understanding the impact of COVID-19 on BAME groups

There is clear evidence that COVID-19 does not affect all population groups equally. Many analyses have shown that older age, ethnicity, male sex and geographical area, for example, are associated with the risk of getting the infection, experiencing more severe symptoms and higher rates of death. This work has been commissioned by the Chief Medical […]

Challenging times require a proactive approach

We are in unprecedented times and facing uncertainty as the Coronavirus pandemic continues to affect our daily lives. We want to assure you that Common Unity is fully committed to the safety and health of our communities. During this period we all need to be there for each other even more so than usual which […]

Time for take off – Our Waiting Room is coming to yours.

The Waiting Room Smart Directory (TWR), as an initial concept, was born out of the fact that paper-based directories were often out of date before the ink had dried and online alternatives were difficult to navigate. This meant that the public didn’t know what services were available and how to access those services which in […]

Birmingham & Solihull – World Mental Health Day 2019

October 10th is here again and for this years’ World Mental Health Day event we have amassed many of the key wellbeing services from across from the local area to showcase what they do at The Being Well Works Well Emporium. Organised by ourselves at Common Unity and hosted in partnership with Birmingham City University, this year’s event […]