His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales opened a new men’s suicide prevention centre in Birmingham at the start of Mental Health Awareness Week.
James’ Place Birmingham offers free, life-saving and quick to access therapy to suicidal men in the West Midlands. Suicide is the single leading cause of death for men under 35 and men are three times more likely to die by suicide than women. In 2024 560 deaths by suicide were registered in the West Midlands, 415 of these (74%) were men.[3]
The charity already offers therapy to men at centres in Liverpool, London and Newcastle and has helped over 5,100 men to date. James’ Place Birmingham is the charity’s fourth centre and is located just outside the city centre near Five Ways in the Edgbaston area. A team of trained therapists will be able to see around 450-500 men in suicidal crisis at the centre per year.
James’ Place was started in memory of a young man called James who lost his life to suicide in 2006. The men who come to James’ Place are in suicidal crisis largely driven by life events, such as a relationship breakdown, financial problems, or bereavement. The charity offers a warm, welcoming and non-clinical space, where professional therapists get quickly to the heart of a man’s suicidal crisis and help him to solve it.
The Birmingham centre has been open to referrals from Birmingham and Solihull Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust since April but is now open to referrals from any suicidal men in the region. Men can self-refer or be referred to the centre by a professional including those working in health and community services, or by a friend or family member. The centre has no waiting list, and will typically see men for an initial assessment within two working days. Following assessment men receive six to eight face-to-face sessions of talking therapy with a trained professional therapist in a safe, friendly, non-clinical environment. James’ Place works alongside the NHS and other local support services, taking on clinical responsibility for the men they treat.
Ellen O’Donoghue, Chief Executive of James’ Place said: “We are so grateful to His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales for opening our new James’ Place centre. The Prince has opened all four of our centres, which is testament to how deeply he cares about suicide prevention.
"We were also delighted to be a founding partner of the National Suicide Prevention Network he convened last year through The Royal Foundation, which aims to deliver lasting change in how suicide is understood and prevented across the four nations. The Prince was able to meet our new therapy team at the centre today, and some of the supporters and partners who have helped bring James’ Place to Birmingham, as well as men we have helped at our other centres. We know that the work we do saves lives, and we’re here to help men in the West Midlands out of their crisis and find hope for the future.” Ciaran Brady, Head of Centre at James’ Place Birmingham said: “We know that there are suicidal men all over the West Midlands who need help but can’t always find it, so we’re really pleased to be taking action to prevent suicide by offering free, life-saving therapy at our fantastic new centre in Birmingham.
"We would urge any men in the West Midlands who have intense, repetitive and distressing suicidal thoughts, and plans to act on these thoughts, to reach out to us as soon as possible via our website jamesplace.org.uk. You can also contact us if you are worried about someone else.” 33-year-old dad of two Ben, who received help from James’ Place in London said: “I was a bit stressed in general after experiencing some problems in my life, and also we’d just had a new baby.
"All of a sudden I just felt like I wanted to end it all, it went from 0-100 really quick in my head and it was absolutely terrifying, I had never felt like that before. I was walking around becoming agitated and I called my mum and told her what was happening, she told me to come straight to her house and kept me on the phone. Luckily a friend of mine had been to James’ Place before,and often posted about where to find help on social media so I remembered the name.
"When I arrived it was nothing like a hospital or a doctors surgery, it was really welcoming, really calm and comfortable, and the staff were really caring. I had about seven or eight sessions with a really amazing therapist and it was like releasing so much pressure. I’ve always found it hard to talk about my feelings but this really helped break down my walls and unpack things.”
Funders who have contributed to the opening of the centre include The Eveson Trust, Goodman Family Foundation, Cameron Grant Memorial Trust, Belinda Hill, Julia Rausing Trust, The David Riddell Memorial CIO, Chris Rokos, The Noel Sweeney Foundation, Julia Willoughby and a number of other donors. Anomaly Architects, Newmark, PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), Savills, and Slaughter and May have generously given their time and expertise pro bono to support the opening of James' Place Birmingham.
These funders donated as part of a £13 million appeal by James’ Place to open three new centres by 2027. The first of these three centres, Newcastle, opened in 2024, joining existing centres in Liverpool and London. Following the launch of the Birmingham centre, the charity will identify the location of their fifth centre. With five centres open the charity aims to treat over 2,000 men a year. Each centre costs at least £2.5 million to set up and run for three years.
The centre is open Monday-Friday 9.30-5.30 by appointment only. To access support from James’ Place, make a referral or find out more visit www.jamesplace.org.uk.