Eat Sleep Ride joins national community-led suicide prevention project

Eat Sleep Ride joins national suicide prevention research programme

Eat Sleep Ride is proud to have been selected as one of the organisations taking part in Suicide Prevention Scotland’s new Community-Led Action Research (CLAR) programme, delivered in partnership with Penumbra Mental Health and the Scottish Community Development Centre (SCDC).

This national initiative brings together grassroots groups across Scotland to explore how local communities can take the lead in preventing suicide, improving wellbeing, and reducing isolation. Each project focuses on listening to lived experience, building local understanding, and creating small but powerful changes that can save lives.

What we’ll be exploring

At Eat Sleep Ride, our project will explore the circumstances surrounding suicide attempts and loss, and how horses, nature, and our community space can help people feel safe, supported, and connected again — particularly across South East Scotland.

We know that the environment we’ve created — where people can connect with horses, the land, and each other — has already made a life-saving difference for many. People who have come to us in deep distress often say that the horses, the calm of the space, and the sense of belonging have helped them choose to stay, to talk, and to begin to heal.

Through this research, we’ll be asking:

• How do people find safety and connection through nature, horses, and community?

• What helps — or makes it harder — to talk about suicide, grief, and mental health?

• How can community-led spaces like ours work alongside formal services to reach those most at risk and support recovery after loss?

Community-led and experience-driven

The research will be co-designed and led by people with lived experience — those who have faced suicide attempts, loss, or emotional crisis, as well as carers, volunteers, and community members who use Eat Sleep Ride as a place for reflection and recovery. We’ll gather stories, hold conversations, and create a shared understanding of what truly helps.

Our findings will feed into national learning on suicide prevention, helping to shape future approaches that recognise the importance of safety, compassion, and connection in community settings.

Why this matters

Suicide prevention is not just about responding in crisis — it’s about creating environments where people feel they belong and can speak openly without fear or judgement.

Through this project, we hope to highlight how the unique relationship between people, horses, and nature can offer comfort, hope, and a reason to keep going. It builds on Eat Sleep Ride’s wider mission: using equine interaction, environmental care, and shared learning to support wellbeing, empowerment, and inclusion for everyone who comes through our gates.

🔗 Learn more

You can read more about the national Community-Led Action Research programme and all the organisations involved here:
👉 Suicide Prevention Scotland – New Community-Led Action Research Projects Revealed

If you would like to take part in our local research conversations or find out more about Eat Sleep Ride’s wellbeing programmes, please contact danielle@eatsleeprides.org