A striking campaign with the aim of ending youth suicide for good has today launched at Westfield in London. A walk into the West London shopping centre today will mean the sight of 6,929 birthday balloons, each representing a young person who has lost their life to suicide in the last decade.
Campaign Against Living Miserably (CALM), who work to prevent suicide in the UK, has installed the balloons as part of the ‘Missed Birthdays’ campaign in Westfield London today (September 9) – and hopes to ensure anyone access the help they need,
On each balloon, you’ll also see that a number is imprinted, which represents the age that young person would have celebrated reaching on their next birthday. It’s an important and powerful message that remembers each life individually while bringing each person lost to suicide together to represent its prevalence and how many people have been affected by it. 6,929 lives are being remembered here, as well as all the family and friends who have missed their loved one every day since their passing.
The campaign is run alongside ITV and has been developed by advertising agency Adam&Eve, and Calm has also launched their new C.A.R.E Kit. This is a resource that helps people help those close to them. “C(heck in).A(sk how they are).R(emain close). E(xpert help)“ is what they ask people live by, but the hope is to provide young people with the tools they need to be there for any young people they know that might be struggling.
Suicide is the leading cause of death among those aged 15-34, and this campaign sends a powerful message that these numbers are too high. The campaign runs for three days, and after this, the balloons will all be donated to the Children’s SCRAP project for arts and craft use.
You can pop into Westfield London any time between today and Wednesday, September 11, to reflect, remember and think about those who have tragically lost their life to suicide and support CALM’s campaign to work towards reducing those numbers to zero.
If you or anyone you know has been affected by suicide, CALM offer resources – including a suicide prevention helpline from 5pm-midnight every day – to help people across the UK access the help they need. You can also access the newly-launched CALM C.A.R.E Kit here.