
Powerful and emotional, let’s get behind this campaign
By Jo Garvey
In September Kev and I went down to London for the launch of the CALM Missed Birthdays campaign which Will is a part of. Its aim is to prevent young suicide and highlights the huge and preventable number of deaths by suicide of young people under the age of 24. In the last 10 years there have been 6929 deaths. An astonishing number and the reality of meeting so many bereaved parents was overwhelming. However, the CALM team looked after us, and continue to look after us very well.
The campaign launch featured a ballon to represent each young death by suicide at an installation at the Westfield in London. It was simultaneously beautiful and immensely sad – and a very, very powerful tribute to all those young lives. The campaign also features a number of those young people, including Will, in a series of posters, billboards, newspapers, and magazines to raise awareness that there is always help and hope. To support this CALM launched their CALM Care Kit – practical steps to support a young person who is feeling suicidal or in crisis.
We cannot underestimate the need for this or indeed for the impact this campaign is having. Anything we can do to support young people is a step in the right direction.