STEP Goes to Parliament

16 December 2025

Hampshire Police Federation Chair Spencer Wragg took STEP to Parliament this week – as he continued the call for more Chief Constables to back the Suicide Trauma Education Prevention campaign.

On 15 December, Spencer and National members of the Police Federation of England and Wales (PFEW) – including Chair Tiff Lynch - met with Lord Bailey of Paddington to discuss suicide prevention in the police service.

Spencer said: “We spoke about the mandation of suicide recording by chief officers, and the lack of current reporting. It was also an opportunity for me to speak to Lord Bailey directly about the STEP campaign and the Stay Alive app.

“We’re nine months into the STEP campaign, and here we are speaking to a Lord at the Houses of Parliament. It just goes to show the traction this is getting now, not just locally, but nationally.

“We’re still pushing Chief Constables to adopt the campaign and get the Stay Alive app on their officers’ and staff members’ phones. We know there are forces coming on board with that, but there’s so many more that could be.”

The STEP campaign aims to break the stigma of suicide so that more people come forward to seek help.

A key element is mandatory debrief sessions for all officers who have attended a suicide and asking all forces to put the Stay Alive app, developed by the Grassroots Suicide Prevention charity, on the work phones of all officers and staff.

Spencer said he hoped Lord Bailey would help influence Chief Constables, especially in the Metropolitan Police which, as the biggest force in the country, needed to start recording its suicide figures.

He said: “The Met provided no figures last year, and we know they’ve had an officer take their own life this year. What will their figures be, have they been recorded?”

Spencer said it was positive that the Police Federation of England and Wales (PFEW) was on board with the campaign : “It’s really good to be working together on this. It’s a campaign that we feel passionately about, and the stance they’ve taken on the mandation of suicide reporting will give us a better idea of how big the problem really is.”

Spencer added that he was proud of how far the STEP campaign had come this year, having started with a single Facebook post he’d posted about his mental health.

He said: “I think the standout moment for me this year was the standing ovation at the Unison conference, because at that point I realised, ‘Actually, there’s something here. This is really resonating with people.’ Since then, we’ve gone on to get the national Police Federation on board, and now we’re at the House of Lords. The momentum is really, really growing. From a single Facebook post on my own social media back in January, to where we are here in December, is astonishing.”

Spencer has more plans for the campaign in 2026, too: “In Hampshire, I’ve reached out to the fire brigade and ambulance service, because we know their suicide figures are high as well. We want to extend this across all emergency workers, because we all deal with trauma and difficult jobs.”

He added that he hoped other emergency services would adopt the Stay Alive app, saying: “It’s free, so I just don’t understand how a senior leader could justify not having it. It’s an app that we hope no one ever needs, but we know there will be people who do.”

It is important for officers who are struggling to know they are not alone, and that there are people there to help.

This includes, for immediacy, the Mental Health Support line from Oscar Kilo 0300 131 2789.