Birthday Balloons Spotlight Young Lives Lost to Suicide in CALM Campaign

Today sees the launch of Missed Birthdays, the next instalment in adam&eveDDB’s ongoing work with Campaign Against Living Miserably (CALM) in partnership with ITV, the suicide prevention charity on a mission to help people end their misery, not their lives.

Suicide is now the leading cause of death for people under 34 in the UK, with women under the age of 24 forming the fastest growing group in history at risk of taking their own lives. Missed Birthdays seeks to turn the tragic increase and magnitude of youth suicide into an unignorable and nationwide talking point.

At the heart of the campaign is a major activation at Westfield London which will be live between 9th and 11th September, including World Suicide Prevention Day on 10th September.

The installation uses a universal symbol of celebration, birthday balloons, to deliver a sombre message of loss and raise awareness of the tragedy that is youth suicide. It will feature 6,929 balloons, each one representing a young person who has died by suicide in the last decade and the birthday they did not reach.

Visitors to the installation will be given the opportunity to hear intimate voice notes from loved ones who have lost a young person to suicide, describing what they were like and what they hope to achieve in being part of the Missed Birthdays campaign.

Supporting the project, the7stars has negotiated a number of strategic media partnerships to deliver a fully integrated campaign with mass reach, including content and editorial coverage across Press, Digital and OOH. TV and radio is planned for later in the year.

CALM's long term partnership with ITV continues with programming dedicated to youth suicide; live broadcast and interviews on ITV’s flagship daytime programme, This Morning, with CALM CEO Simon Gunning and services director Wendy Robinson, and loved ones of young people who feature as part of the campaign.

Missed Birthdays will also be supported by a press and out-of-home campaign that spotlights the stories young people lost to suicide. JCDecaux, Bauer, Reach, Outernet, Mail Metro, Evening Standard, News UK, Guardian, Clear Channel and Ocean Outdoor are all backing the cause with channel specific and locally targeted messaging to deliver maximum impact and relevance.

To enable trusted adults to play an active role in ending youth suicide, all messaging in the campaign will direct to a newly-created resource, the CALM C.A.R.E. kit – a suite of practical tools and resources designed to equip trusted adults with everything needed to be there for a young person - from introducing the topic to keeping them safe in crisis.

Through this campaign, CALM and ITV aim to unite the public in addressing the tragedy of youth suicide and empower every adult to play a role in protecting young lives.

Simon Gunning, chief executive officer, CALM, says, “It’s devastating for a young person to not make it to their 15th, 16th, 17th birthday. It’s absolutely tragic when that reason is suicide. Over the last decade, 6,929 families have been affected by the tragedy of youth suicide. We want to thank everyone who shared their stories in this campaign for their strength and courage, and hope it can open up conversations and give everyone the tools to support the young people in their lives.”

Ant Nelson and Mike Sutherland, executive creative directors, adam&eveDDB, comment, “The numbers behind youth suicide are a sobering statistic. Talking about the number of lives lost to this tragedy is one thing, but seeing the sheer volume represented with birthday balloons and the ages these young people didn’t reach is another. We hope that anyone who engages with the campaign will be motivated to use CALM’s tools and help end youth suicide for good.”

Mehul Ashra, strategist at the7stars, added, “Our challenge was to deliver these important stories in an articulate, compelling, and channel-appropriate way. We only collaborated with media partners who shared our passion for creating impact and raising awareness. Each partner developed the personal stories to deliver authentic and powerful messages through their channels and talent. We thank all the media owners who contributed, for making this campaign possible."

The Missed Birthdays campaign is made possible by funding from the Iceland Foods Charitable Foundation (IFCF).

CALM and adam&eveDDB worked with Creative Giants on the design and build of the installation at Westfield, White City, where great care has been taken to ensure it is as sustainable as possible, opting for air filled foil balloons, manufactured in the UK. The live event finishes on Wednesday, 11th September, when the installation will be donated to charity Children's Scrap Project who will reuse the balloons for a range of arts and crafts projects, including: children's workshops, drama projects, back drops, displays, collage, sensory rooms, holistic play and a variety of educational projects.