Bespoke SafeTALK Suicide Alertness Training for Northern Powergrid

Northern Powergrid operates at the heart of communities across the North East, Yorkshire and Northern Lincolnshire, with staff working in roles that often involve direct contact with customers during moments of stress, disruption, or crisis. Recognising the importance of equipping their teams with the confidence to respond safely and compassionately in these situations, Northern Powergrid commissioned New Guard MHTD CIC to design and deliver bespoke SafeTALK suicide‑alertness training tailored specifically to their operational environment.
SafeTalk was deiverted to 110 participants over 9 Course 
This customised programme went beyond standard delivery. We worked closely with Northern Powergrid to understand the realities their staff face — lone working, emergency callouts, emotionally charged customer interactions, and the pressure of maintaining safety during outages or incidents. Using these insights, we shaped a SafeTALK Training Experience that reflected real‑world scenarios, language, and challenges unique to their organisation. 

Participants engaged deeply with the training over , bringing forward honest reflections and examples from their day‑to‑day roles. Many shared that they had previously encountered individuals showing signs of distress but felt unsure how to respond. The bespoke SafeTALK sessions provided clear, practical tools to help staff recognise signs of suicidal thinking, confidently start supportive conversations, and connect people to life‑saving help.
By investing in tailored suicide‑alertness training, Northern Powergrid has taken a proactive, compassionate step toward creating safer interactions, stronger teams, and a more supportive organisational culture. Our partnership demonstrates a shared belief that suicide prevention is everyone’s responsibility — and that bespoke, context‑specific training can empower staff to make a real difference.

Feedback was overwhelmingly positive. Staff reported increased awareness, greater confidence, and a stronger understanding of how to respond safely and appropriately when someone may be at risk. Leaders highlighted that the training reinforced Northern Powergrid’s commitment to wellbeing — not only for their workforce, but for the customers and communities they serve.

testimonials

 The course was very insightful and was very eye opening to a lot of different situations that you could experience with customers and taught me how to best handle situations in ways I wouldn’t of thought of 

Northern Powergrid
2 day SafeTalk - Cohort 1

 I wish I’d done this course 3 years ago when I started in my role. This course has been amazing and I’d highly recommend it to all employees- everything we have done in our course is useful to everyone in our business and will be of essential use in my role, I feel more empowered to have tricky conversations in a safe way and also know how to act upon information I find out from customers/colleagues etc and how to provide appropriate support and hopefully really help those in crisis or in need 

Northern Powergrid
2 day SafeTalk Cohort 2

 Chris has helped me not only understand what others are going through but how to help myself over come. Even though this is a hard topic Chris still made me and the group laugh. 

Northern Powergrid
2 day SafeTalk - Cohort 3

 Chris was welcoming and fun but also made you feel safe. There was no such thing as a silly question. An excellent trainer, extremely engaging and clearly loved what he does! 

Northern Powergrid
2 day SafeTalk Cohort 4

 I think everyone in the business with a customer facing role or who manages people should get a chance to take this course. It give a great insight into hidden vulnerability, how we can spot this and how we can help. Also how to have a conversation around mental health and suicide. 

Northern Powergrid
2 day SafeTalk Cohort 5

 The course was fantastic and I feel that everyone in Northern Powergrid would benefit from the course. If it’s not feasible for everyone to attend, at a minimum management at all levels should attend with at least some people that can become champions within each team especially customer facing teams. 

Northern Powergrid
2 day SafeTalk Cohort 6

 Chris was engaging, caring and insightful beyond what could be expected on a course like this. He always made us feel comfortable and was honest and open about how impactful the sessions could be. The materials and stories used were perfect and never felt exploitive or too much, mainly due to his care for the people in the room and how well instructed and prepared we were for what’s to come. 

Northern Powergrid
2 day SafeTalk Cohort 7

 Found the course relevant and helpful. Enjoyed the way it was delivered and the real life stories. I feel I now have a better understanding of my own safety when dealing with people who are contemplating suicide and where/how to signpost them. for the correct help. Really beneficial and surprisingly enjoyable given the topic. 

Northern Powergrid
2 day SafeTalk Cohort 8

 Great balance of just the right information to get the message across without stepping over the line on certain subjects, superb 

Northern Powergrid
2 day SafeTalk Cohort 9