What we are asking for, and what it rests on.
Three things sit here. The evidence we rely on, the case we have put to the people who can change the system, and what we have done ourselves.
We are a small cause asking people with a lot of demands on them to change something. The only reason anyone should listen is that what we say holds up. So the figures we use, where they came from, and the letters we have sent are all on this site rather than described on it. We are not only asking other people to act, which is why what we have done ourselves is here too, counted and dated.
Six rules we hold ourselves to.
We quote the source's own words
Each figure keeps the comparator, population, geography, year and wording the source used. We do not round up, generalise or change the comparison to make a point land harder.
We say who published it, and when
Every figure carries its source and its year. Where a body publishes its own advocacy data rather than research, we attribute it to that body and say so.
We say when something is an association, not a cause
Two things happening together is not one causing the other, and on this subject the difference matters. Where the evidence shows an association, we write that it is an association.
We retire a figure when its source moves
When a body publishes a newer count, the older wording comes out of anything new we write. An old letter keeps what it said on the day, because a letter is a record.
Our own numbers are labelled as ours
What we have counted ourselves is never presented as research. It is kept separately, carries the date it was last counted, and says what happened rather than what it achieved.
Where there is no figure, we say so
There is no reliable national data on suicide among emergency services personnel. We do not fill that gap with an estimate of our own. We say plainly that we can find no published national figure, because that absence is part of the argument.
What we have asked for, and who we asked.
Every letter we send is published here in full, exactly as it was sent. What we publish is what we asked for, not what came back.
- The Rt Hon Andy Burnham MPPrime Minister
- Sir Mark Rowley QPMCommissioner of Police of the Metropolis
- Bobby Dean MPMember of Parliament for Carshalton and Wallington
- The Rt Hon the Lord Khan of TootingMayor of London
- Chief Constable Lucy D'Orsi CVO QPMChief Constable, British Transport Police
- Commissioner Pete O'DohertyCommissioner, City of London Police
- Jason Killens KAMChief Executive, London Ambulance Service NHS Trust
- Jonathan Smith KFSMLondon Fire Commissioner
- Chief Constable Sir John Robins QPM DLChair, Chief Police Officers' Staff Association
What we have counted ourselves.
These are our own numbers rather than published research, so each one carries the date it was last counted. They say what has happened, not what it prevented.
12,300
people following Silence Between Sirens on Instagram.
As at 20 October 2026
84
frontline colleagues trained in Mental Health First Aid and suicide prevention, or supported after the loss of a colleague.
As at October 2026
9
letters to the Prime Minister, to London’s policing, fire and ambulance leaders, and to our MP.
As at October 2026
4
days out and events held this year, with five more in the diary.
As at October 2026
You do not have to be at breaking point to reach out.
Silence Between Sirens is not a crisis service. These lines are free and there for you now.