Campaign Against Living Miserably

Campaign Against Living Miserably
Abbreviation CALM
Formation 2006
Purpose To reduce the suicide rate among men
Headquarters London
Region served
 UK (commissioned specifically in London & Merseyside)
Website www.thecalmzone.net

Campaign Against Living Miserably, or CALM, is a registered charity based in England.[1] It was launched in March 2006 as a campaign aimed at bringing the suicide rate down among men.[2]

CALM promote a free, confidential and anonymous helpline (in London & Merseyside) as well as a web chat service (accessible via www.thecalmzone.net), open seven nights a week, offering help, advice and information to men who are experiencing depression or crisis.[3] CALM also publish a bimonthly magazine, CALMzine,[4] and maintain a website and online database. CALM currently promotes its services within two CALMzones: Merseyside, and London. Although CALM’s service is targeted at young men, it takes calls from anyone who needs support regardless of gender or age.[5]

CALM was commissioned by the National Health Service in Merseyside to promote its campaign since 2000, where since beginning operations the number of suicides amongst young men has fallen year on year by a total of 55% between 2000–2009.[6]

History

Pilot and relaunch

CALM was initially a Department of Health pilot project launched late in 1997 in Manchester with the help of Tony Wilson, and then rolled out to Merseyside in 2000.[7] It was a helpline targeted specifically at young men who were unlikely to contact mainstream services and who were at greater risk of suicide.[8] Jane Powell was commissioned to launch the project and ran it until 2000. When funding for the pilot project ceased in 2004/5, Powell relaunched the pilot as a registered charity in 2006 [9] working with some of the pilot's original commissioners and with Tony Wilson as a founding Trustee.

In 2015 rapper and singer-songwriter Professor Green was named as CALM's patron,[10] and the campaign's Trustees Board includes health professionals and leading figures from the worlds of music, advertising, and management, as well as relatives of men who have taken their own lives. David Baddiel was CALM's former patron.

The campaign has brought in significant pro bono advertising support from agencies such as Ogilvy Advertising,[11] Tullo Marshall Warren,[12] MTV, and Metro, and most recently Topman and BMB. This has brought CALM a significant amount of advertisements on billboards, on TV, in the underground and on radio.[13]

Awards

Young male suicide statistics

In 2012, there were 5,981 suicides in the UK, of which 77% (4,590) were male.[14][15][16]

Sponsors include

Some of the people involved

See also

References

  1. ↑ Campaign Against Living Miserably, Registered Charity no. 1110621 at the Charity Commission
  2. ↑ NHS Health Promotion/Campaign Against Living Miserably; Howes, Simon; http://www.lhps.org.uk/hp_calm.html; Accessed on 17 March 2009 at 15:12
  3. ↑ CALM - Campaign Against Living Miserably; http://patient.info/support/CALM-Campaign-Against-Living-Miserably.htm Accessed on 3 March 2009 at 14:02
  4. ↑ "CALM". Campaign Against Living Miserably.
  5. ↑ "The Electric Universe: Paul Malone talks astronomy for CALM, this Thursday!". Campaign Against Living Miserably.
  6. ↑ http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/subnational-health4/suicides-in-the-united-kingdom/2009/suicide-rates-in-the-united-kingdom--2000-2009.pdf
  7. ↑ NHS Health Promotion/Campaign Against Living Miserably; Howes, Simon; http://www.lhps.org.uk/hp_calm.html; Accessed on 17 March 2009 at 15:12
  8. ↑ national service frameworks: Mental Health Modern Standards and Service Models; 1999; p. 31; http://www.dh.gov.uk/en/Publicationsandstatistics/Publications/PublicationsPolicyAndGuidance/DH_4009598; Accessed on 3 March 2009 at 12:45
  9. ↑ Campaign Against Living Miserably (CALM); http://www.netdoctor.co.uk/menshealth/support_groups/006287.htm; Accessed on 3 March 2009 at 14:05
  10. ↑ "Professor Green campaigns against living miserably". Dial2Donate. Retrieved 19 August 2015.
  11. ↑ Ogilvy appeals for CALM; Creative Review; 1 May 2002; http://www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary_0286-25342629_ITM; Accessed on 3 March 2009 at 14:44
  12. ↑ Charity Calm unveils hard-hitting assault; Precision Marketing; 15 December 2006; http://www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary_0286-29043498_ITM; Accessed on 3 March 2009 at 14:47
  13. ↑ http://www.liverpool-live.info/liverpool/calm-publish-book-looking-back-at-10-years-of-campaigning
  14. ↑ "Death Registrations Summary Statistics, England and Wales, 2012". ONS. Retrieved 16 December 2013.
  15. ↑ "Table 6.4, Deaths, by sex, age and cause, 2012". NIRSA. Retrieved 15 December 2013.
  16. ↑ "Table 6.2: Deaths, numbers and rates, by sex, age and cause, Scotland, 2012". GRO. Retrieved 15 December 2013.

External links

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