CALM, Campaign Against Living Miserably
Encyclopedia
CALM, or the Campaign Against Living Miserably, is a registered charity based in England
. It was launched in March 2006 as a campaign aimed at bringing the suicide
rate down among men aged 15–35.
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The campaign maintains a website and an online database and operates a national helpline four days a week, offering help, advice and information to young men, aged 15–35, who are experiencing depression or crisis.
and Merseyside
. The CALM helpline was launched in December 1997 in Manchester and was specifically aimed at young men who would be unlikely to contact more mainstream services and who were at greater risk of suicide. When funding for the Department of Health pilot project ceased, the Campaign Against Living Miserably was relaunched in 2006 as a registered charity.
Music mogul Anthony Wilson
was a founding Trustee, and the campaign's board includes a mix of mental health professionals and commissioners and individuals from the worlds of advertising
, law
and management
. Advisors include Mental Health tsars Prof Louis Appleby and Prof Mark Bellis as well as Emily Eavis
.
The campaign has brought in significant pro bono support from agencies such as Ogilvy Advertising
, Tullo Marshall Warren, MTV
, and Metro
and recently Top Man
. This has helped them bring in a significant amount of advertisements on billboards, on TV, in the underground
and on radio.
and Merseyside, where CALM works intensively at a local level in CALMzones with Primary Care Trusts. CALM’s national office recently took up residence in North West London
.
for Mental Health
Standards 1, 3 and 7, and is cited in the NSF as a model of good practice.
CALM addresses the Public service agreement
of reducing suicides by 20% by 2010.
and Wales
aged 15–34 took their own lives, compared to 278 who died through an assault
.
All in all, suicide was the second biggest killer of males aged 15–34 after transport accidents
, which killed 49 more young men in 2007.
For every young woman aged 15–34 who committed suicide in 2007, four young men in the same age bracket killed themselves.
rapper Dizzee Rascal
released a song about a friend who took his own life to raise awareness of the problem of suicide among 15 to 35-year-old men. The song, called 'Dean', was made available for download as a music video from iTunes
, with all profits going to the Campaign Against Living Miserably.
and the public. This campaign was launched in order to raise funds for an online web-chat and texting service.
The appeal involves an attempt to break the world record
for the greatest number of t-shirts worn at once by two people. The goal is to get 500 logos on 500 t-shirts worn by two young men.
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. It was launched in March 2006 as a campaign aimed at bringing the suicide
Suicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Suicide is often committed out of despair or attributed to some underlying mental disorder, such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, alcoholism, or drug abuse...
rate down among men aged 15–35.
Pilot & Relaunch
CALM grew out of a Department of Health pilot project launched in 1997 and operating in ManchesterManchester
Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...
and Merseyside
Merseyside
Merseyside is a metropolitan county in North West England, with a population of 1,365,900. It encompasses the metropolitan area centred on both banks of the lower reaches of the Mersey Estuary, and comprises five metropolitan boroughs: Knowsley, St Helens, Sefton, Wirral, and the city of Liverpool...
. The CALM helpline was launched in December 1997 in Manchester and was specifically aimed at young men who would be unlikely to contact more mainstream services and who were at greater risk of suicide. When funding for the Department of Health pilot project ceased, the Campaign Against Living Miserably was relaunched in 2006 as a registered charity.
Music mogul Anthony Wilson
Tony Wilson
Anthony Howard Wilson, commonly known as Tony Wilson , was an English record label owner, radio presenter, TV show host, nightclub manager, impresario and journalist for Granada Television and the BBC....
was a founding Trustee, and the campaign's board includes a mix of mental health professionals and commissioners and individuals from the worlds of advertising
Advertising
Advertising is a form of communication used to persuade an audience to take some action with respect to products, ideas, or services. Most commonly, the desired result is to drive consumer behavior with respect to a commercial offering, although political and ideological advertising is also common...
, law
Law
Law is a system of rules and guidelines which are enforced through social institutions to govern behavior, wherever possible. It shapes politics, economics and society in numerous ways and serves as a social mediator of relations between people. Contract law regulates everything from buying a bus...
and management
Management
Management in all business and organizational activities is the act of getting people together to accomplish desired goals and objectives using available resources efficiently and effectively...
. Advisors include Mental Health tsars Prof Louis Appleby and Prof Mark Bellis as well as Emily Eavis
Emily Eavis
Emily Eavis is co-organiser of the annual Glastonbury Festival. She is the youngest daughter of the festival's founder and organiser Michael Eavis and his second wife Jean....
.
The campaign has brought in significant pro bono support from agencies such as Ogilvy Advertising
Ogilvy & Mather
Ogilvy & Mather is an international advertising, marketing and public relations agency based in Manhattan and owned by the WPP Group. The company operates 497 offices in 125 countries with approximately 16,000 employees.-History:...
, Tullo Marshall Warren, MTV
MTV
MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....
, and Metro
Metro (Associated Metro Limited)
Metro is a free daily newspaper in the United Kingdom published by Associated Newspapers Ltd . It is available from Monday to Friday each week on many public transport services across the United Kingdom.-History:The paper was launched in London in 1999, and can now be found in 14 UK urban centres...
and recently Top Man
Topshop
Topshop is a British clothes retailer with shops in over 20 countries and online operations in a number of its markets. Its sales come primarily from women's clothing and fashion accessories...
. This has helped them bring in a significant amount of advertisements on billboards, on TV, in the underground
London Underground
The London Underground is a rapid transit system serving a large part of Greater London and some parts of Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire and Essex in England...
and on radio.
CALMzones
There are two areas of England, in East LancashireLancashire
Lancashire is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in the North West of England. It takes its name from the city of Lancaster, and is sometimes known as the County of Lancaster. Although Lancaster is still considered to be the county town, Lancashire County Council is based in Preston...
and Merseyside, where CALM works intensively at a local level in CALMzones with Primary Care Trusts. CALM’s national office recently took up residence in North West London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
.
Awards
CALM won the Mike Farrer Self Care Challenge in 2008, came runner up in the Charity Awards 2008, and was shortlisted for the category of Most Innovative Charity of the Year, Third Sector, in the Britain’s Most Admired Charities Awards 2008.National Service Framework
CALM is aligned with the National Service FrameworkNational Service Framework
National Service Frameworks are policies set by the National Health Service in the United Kingdom to define standards of care for major medical issues such as cancer, coronary heart disease, mental health and diabetes...
for Mental Health
Mental health
Mental health describes either a level of cognitive or emotional well-being or an absence of a mental disorder. From perspectives of the discipline of positive psychology or holism mental health may include an individual's ability to enjoy life and procure a balance between life activities and...
Standards 1, 3 and 7, and is cited in the NSF as a model of good practice.
CALM addresses the Public service agreement
Public service agreement
Public service agreements detail the aims and objectives of UK government departments for a three-year period. Such agreements also "describe how targets will be achieved and how performance against these targets will be measured"...
of reducing suicides by 20% by 2010.
Young Male Suicide: Some Statistics
In 2007, 934 men in EnglandEngland
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
and Wales
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
aged 15–34 took their own lives, compared to 278 who died through an assault
Assault
In law, assault is a crime causing a victim to fear violence. The term is often confused with battery, which involves physical contact. The specific meaning of assault varies between countries, but can refer to an act that causes another to apprehend immediate and personal violence, or in the more...
.
All in all, suicide was the second biggest killer of males aged 15–34 after transport accidents
Transport accidents
A transport accident is any accident that occurs during transportation. Specifically, it can refer to:*an aviation accident and incident*a sailing ship accident*a train wreck*a vehicle collision...
, which killed 49 more young men in 2007.
For every young woman aged 15–34 who committed suicide in 2007, four young men in the same age bracket killed themselves.
Some of the people involved
- Patrons
- David BaddielDavid BaddielDavid Lionel Baddiel is an English comedian, novelist and television presenter.-Early life:Baddiel was born in New York, and moved to England when he was four months old. His father, Colin Brian Baddiel, was a Welsh research chemist with Unilever before being made redundant in the 1980s, after...
- Malcolm Poynton
- James Scroggs
- David Baddiel
- Advisors
- Prof Louis Appleby
- Prof Mark Bellis
- Emily EavisEmily EavisEmily Eavis is co-organiser of the annual Glastonbury Festival. She is the youngest daughter of the festival's founder and organiser Michael Eavis and his second wife Jean....
- Keith HarrisKeith HarrisKeith Harris is an English ventriloquist, who is known for his television show , audio recordings, and club appearances with his puppets Orville the Duck and Cuddles the Monkey...
- Gary McClarnan
- Chris PriceChris PriceChristopher John "Chris" Price is an English former footballer who made 561 appearances in the Football League and Premier League, playing for Hereford United, Blackburn Rovers, Aston Villa, Blackburn Rovers and Portsmouth...
- Steve Smith
- Jude Stansfield
Dizzee Rascal & Dean
British GrimeGrime (music)
Grime is a style of music that emerged from Bow, East London, England in the early 2000s, primarily as a development of UK garage, dancehall, and hip hop...
rapper Dizzee Rascal
Dizzee Rascal
Dylan Kwabena Mills , better known by his stage name Dizzee Rascal, is a Ghanaian British rapper, songwriter and record producer. His music is a blend of garage, hip hop, grime, ragga, pop and electronic music, with eclectic samples and more exotic styles...
released a song about a friend who took his own life to raise awareness of the problem of suicide among 15 to 35-year-old men. The song, called 'Dean', was made available for download as a music video from iTunes
ITunes
iTunes is a media player computer program, used for playing, downloading, and organizing digital music and video files on desktop computers. It can also manage contents on iPod, iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad....
, with all profits going to the Campaign Against Living Miserably.
The 500/100 Save the Male appeal
CALM’s 500/100 appeal was launched with funding from both Comic ReliefComic Relief
Comic Relief is an operating British charity, founded in 1985 by the comedy scriptwriter Richard Curtis and comedian Lenny Henry in response to famine in Ethiopia. The highlight of Comic Relief's appeal is Red Nose Day, a biennial telethon held in March, alternating with sister project Sport Relief...
and the public. This campaign was launched in order to raise funds for an online web-chat and texting service.
The appeal involves an attempt to break the world record
Guinness World Records
Guinness World Records, known until 2000 as The Guinness Book of Records , is a reference book published annually, containing a collection of world records, both human achievements and the extremes of the natural world...
for the greatest number of t-shirts worn at once by two people. The goal is to get 500 logos on 500 t-shirts worn by two young men.