Iceland Foods Charitable Foundation and suicide prevention charity the Campaign Against Living Miserably (CALM) today announced a charity partnership which aims to kick-start a much-needed conversation about suicide in the UK and raise funds for CALM’s life-saving work.
The partnership will see Iceland and The Food Warehouse colleagues, charity champions and managers across stores nationwide take on a number of fundraising challenges in a bid to raise £300,000 for CALM. This important funding could help CALM have over 37,000 life-saving conversations via its helpline – each one representing the chance to save someone’s life.
Tragically, data shows that one in five people will have suicidal thoughts in their lifetime, with someone dying by suicide every 90 minutes on average in the UK. But suicide can be prevented with the right support and interventions. One of those tools is talking about suicide to stop the stigma silencing people’s struggles and preventing people from seeking help.
The first-of-its-kind partnership will 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, CALM CEO, said: “We’re thrilled to be teaming up with Iceland Foods Charitable Foundation on a groundbreaking partnership to break the silence around suicide and bring hope and life-saving conversations to high streets and Iceland stores across the UK.
“It’s been a tough few years, and for many, it can feel like things aren’t going to get much better any time soon. This partnership with Iceland will raise awareness of CALM’s life-saving message and services with millions of people, providing support to anyone struggling and potentially saving lives. CALM is a lifeline for so many people right now, and with the support of Iceland, we can continue to reach more people than ever in our fight against suicide.’’
Tarsem Dhaliwal, Group Chief Executive of Iceland Foods and Trustee of Iceland Foods Charitable Foundation, said: “Iceland is at the heart of hundreds of communities, with our stores welcoming five million customers every week. This incredible campaign will enable us to raise awareness to our customers and colleagues about mental health and help to end the stigma around it by empowering them to have lifesaving conversations.
“Mental health is one of the biggest growing concerns in the UK, with 125 people per week losing their lives to suicide and bringing attention to it is key in stopping these preventable deaths.
“Our amazing colleagues will be taking part in several fundraising efforts in Iceland stores nationwide to help raise £300,000 to support CALM and the vital work they do. We’ll also have in-store messaging on display to help start those all-important conversations with our customers and help spread the message that life is always worth living.”
