Harbour and Duzi Studio Launch Campaign for Charity Suicide & Co to Support Those Bereaved by Suicide

Suicide&Co, a suicide bereavement charity, has today launched its first awareness campaign, Words Unspoken. Featuring the largest collection of letters written by those who have experienced bereavement by suicide to the loved ones they have lost, the campaign aims to address the stigma around suicide-related grief by opening the conversation and sharing lived experiences.

The hard-hitting new campaign features a series of real letters, submitted by individuals bereaved by suicide, written to the person they’ve lost. These letters range in length, and their tone reflects the complex range of emotions that come with suicide-related grief. The campaign, initiated by Harbour, carries the call-to-action ‘Don’t let silence have the last word’ and an invitation for others to share their own letters via suicideandco.org or using the hashtag #WordsUnspoken.

Led by large format OOH that runs across sites nationwide, including a number of Clear Channel’s Platform for Good sites, the campaign will be further supported on social channels and by a resource on Suicide&Co’s website, which will remain a permanent home to all the letters.

Globally, 1 in 5 people are affected by suicide in their lifetime. In the UK alone, 34,000 people are directly bereaved by the suicide of a loved one each year. But many of those who are dealing with suicide-related grief in all its forms are left to feel alone and forgotten about.

Suicide&Co help those who have been bereaved by suicide, enabling them to access support through their counselling service, helpline and digital resources.

In recognition of this stigma, and often silence, surrounding death by suicide, Words Unspoken aims to give people who have been bereaved by suicide a voice, encouraging them to write the things they would have liked to have said, or would say now, to the loved one they lost.

Amelia Wrighton, CEO and Co-Founder, Suicide&Co, said:

“This campaign acts as a collective voice for those bereaved by suicide. With over 70 letter submissions already they are a brilliant representation of the complexities of suicide-related grief. We hope that showcasing these letters in the open will help those who may feel silenced by the stigma surrounding their grief.”

“The campaign is also a form of support in itself, as letter writing is a therapeutic action, enabling people to unlock and acknowledge their feelings. Through hosting the collection on our website we are encouraging people to read other's experiences, reminding us all that we are not alone.”

Grant Parker, creative partner, Harbour, added: “So often, the voices of those bereaved by suicide go unheard. We wanted this campaign to show the many nuanced forms of grief experienced by the bereaved. It’s shocking that so many of us are affected by suicide, and yet it is not something that is talked about openly. By boldly showing these letters on large format posters, we hope it will chip away at the stigma those bereaved by suicide often feel and help the millions of people who are affected by this every year know that they are not alone.

The design work by Duzi Studio for the Words Unspoken campaign strikes a balance between boldness and sensitivity, a juxtaposition that is reflective of the ethos of Suicide&Co. Confident colours and striking campaign messaging are set with carefully considered typesetting and textured paper treatment, unique to each submission. As a result, the reading experience feels raw and deeply personal. Duzi Studio commented: “Throughout the design, our priority was to keep the words as the focus in order to accurately represent the stories and emotions of those who wrote them. To retain the authentic voices of the bereaved community, the final words have not been tweaked from the originals, either grammatically or in spelling.”