Our impact

I'll be forever grateful to them, without the team at James’ Place I wouldn’t be here today. My parents would have lost their son and my two sons their Dad.

James' Place client

Suicide is the leading cause of death in men under the age of 35 years old. Three quarters of all suicides in England and Wales are men.

James’ Place offers free, life-saving treatment to men in suicidal crisis at centres in Liverpool, London and Newcastle. Our unique, evidence-based intervention is delivered at our centres, usually over six to eight face to face sessions with one of our trained, professional, therapists.

James’ Place reduces suicidality in men and makes a life-changing difference to individuals, their families, their communities and the wider system.

Our model of treatment

The James’ Place model consists of five components: environment, suicide prevention therapists, partnerships/referral pathways, rapid access to the service and the innovative ‘Lay your cards on the Table’ intervention, where we use sets of cards to help the men we support talk about how they are feeling and what is going on in their lives throughout their sessions with us.

Model showing James' Place treatment model: suicide prevention therapists, environment, partnership/referral pathways, lay your cards on the table, rapid access

What makes us different

Treatment – Our treatment works. Men experience a clinically and statistically significant positive change following treatment and reduced levels of psychological distress.
Time – We see men quickly with no waiting list.
People – All our therapists are trained professionals. Men have the same therapist throughout their treatment.
Place – We deliver treatment in our safe, friendly and non-clinical centres in Liverpool, London and Newcastle.
Partners – We work alongside the NHS and other local support services, taking on clinical responsibility for the men we treat.

Our evaluation

Our academic and independent evaluation, which was conducted by lead researcher Dr Pooja Saini, Reader in Suicide and Self Harm Prevention at Liverpool John Moores University between August 2018 and July 2022, shows that men who have attended James’ Place on average experienced a clinically and statistically significant positive change in their mental wellbeing following their treatment and reduced levels of psychological distress, as measured by the Core Outcome Model (CORE 10).

Between 2020 and 2022 we also measured entrapment levels in the men we see, which is a key indicator of psychological distress. The research found that on average, men who attended James’ Place had a statistically significant reduction in feelings of entrapment.

Read the latest evaluation here.

Number of men helped to date

Percentage of men happy with the support they were offered

Number of therapy sessions delivered in 23/24

This evaluation has highlighted the effectiveness of the James’ Place model in saving lives.

Our research to date provides evidence that the James’ Place model reduces psychological distress, and now we know it also reduces entrapment.

This evaluation has highlighted the effectiveness of the James’ Place model in saving lives across two regions. James’ Place has continued to offer an excellent service to more men in suicidal crisis. We would recommend that James’ Place use the model as the basis for implementing the service in other settings.