Iceland and CALM partner on Missed Birthdays installation at Westfield White City to combat youth suicide

The Campaign Against Living Miserably (CALM) and Iceland Foods Charitable Foundation (IFCF) have unveiled an installation of 6,929 birthday balloons in Westfield shopping centre, marking the missed birthdays of young people lost to suicide.  

Suicide is now the leading cause of death for young people aged 15-24 in the UK, with data revealing that two fifths of those people aged between 18-34 have experienced a mental health crisis or suicidal thoughts over the past five years. 

Earlier this year, Iceland Foods Charitable Foundation pledged £300,000 in funding which could help CALM have over 37,000 life saving conversations via their helpline –and now the retailer has donated an additional £350,000 and joined forces with CALM for the aforementioned installation.  

The Missed Birthdays installation at Westfield White City, London, marks the launch of a new report from CALM which reveals that only 20% of parents and adults in the UK have discussed suicide with children aged 16-23.  

CALM’s new research found that 60% of young people are more likely to speak to a friend, while 51% would avoid speaking to a parent or trusted adult for help with a mental health crisis or suicidal thoughts as they don’t want to worry them.  

The charity has created tailored guides to support trusted adults in having conversations with young people aged 15-24, who are experiencing a higher suicide rate than ever.

The CALM C.A.R.E kit has been designed to offer support for a variety of situations, including speaking to a young person whose mental wellbeing is fine to intervening when a young person is in crisis.

The kit will support Iceland stores to help smash the stigma by educating and empowering people to start life saving conversations about suicide and mental health through in-store messaging and prompts.

It will take the urgent issue of suicide prevention to the British high street, aiming to reach Iceland’s five million weekly customers nationwide. 

Simon Gunning, CEO at CALM, says: “Parents worry mentioning the ‘S’ word puts the thought in their loved ones' minds. We know from our extensive work in the area that the opposite is true.”

“Talking about suicide with young people in the right way and simply saying that word, whether they’re doing fine or whether they’re at crisis point, is clinically proven to prevent suicide.”

“We have to remove the stigma and start talking - if we don’t, more young people will die or carry these damaging behaviours into adulthood. The CALM C.A.R.E kit shows you how to break the cycle and foster positive conversations around mental health and suicide prevention.”

Tarsem Dhaliwal, Group Chief Executive of Iceland Foods and Trustee of Iceland Foods Charitable Foundation says: “Suicide amongst young people is a worsening epidemic in the UK and we need to get as many people as possible aware and involved to help combat it, which is what we hope to achieve with the poignant Missed Birthdays installation.”

“We know that it can be a difficult topic to discuss but the most effective way to stop these preventable deaths it is to be proactive. CALM, with the support of Iceland Foods Charitable Foundation, is offering trusted adults invaluable support to help start the conversation and we’re glad to be a part of making that possible.”