Coming together for Gathering Hope 2026

Our third Gathering Hope event took place at The Barracks in Stirling on Thursday 29 January 2026.

Gathering Hope provides a fantastic opportunity for organisations working in suicide prevention and mental health to connect with other organisations, and explore what we can do together to prevent suicide in Scotland.

Building on the learning from last year's event, delegates focused on amplifying the voices of those with lived and living experience, practical action and collaboration.

Opening the event, National Delivery Lead Haylis Smith reflected on the importance of organisations coming together to strengthen networks and build a community among those working in suicide prevention across Scotland.

Linda Hunter introduced the theme of Time, Space, Compassion, offering it as both a call to action and a call to connection. She encouraged delegates to take part in an interactive exercise, connecting with others around the room to share stories about people who inspire them. These conversations set a thoughtful tone for the day, with some of the powerful stories shared with the wider group.

The morning continued with a presentation from Emily Stokes from Mikeysline. Emily spoke about the development of Mikeysline since it was founded in 2015, from its beginnings as a helpline to the opening of The Hive, an in-person support hub offering one-to-one support.

She also highlighted Bee the Change, a campaign working to challenge stigma and change the way we talk about mental health and suicide, alongside Hive on the Road, a mobile mental health support service reaching communities that are often hardest to engage.

Delegates then heard about Community Led Action Research through a panel discussion featuring Shetland Link Up, Rosemount Lifelong Learning, Tony’s Safe Place and Penumbra Mental Health, highlighting the value of local, community driven approaches.

There were a range of workshops led by organisations within the network, covering topics including multi-agency collaboration, communicating about suicide, intersectional stigma and suicide prevention education for the workforce.

The day concluded with a reflective conversation on workforce wellbeing, emphasising the importance of self-care when working in suicide prevention, followed by a second round of workshops and a very informative Q&A.

It was a pleasure to see so many people to come together to learn, connect and strengthen our collective efforts to prevent suicide in Scotland.