About CALM

CALM or The Campaign Against Living Miserably 

THE CAMPAIGN AGAINST LIVING MISERABLY, or CALM, is a registered charity, which exists to prevent male suicide in the UK.   In 2013, male suicide accounts for 78% of all suicides and is the single biggest cause of death in men aged 20 – 45 in the UK. 

PREVENTING MALE SUICIDE

We seek to prevent male suicide by:-

• Offering support to men in the UK, of any age, who are down or in crisis via our helpline and website.
• Challenging a culture that prevents men seeking help when they need it, see www.yearofthemale.com
• Pushing for changes in policy and practice so that suicide is better prevented via partnerships such as The Alliance of Suicide Prevention Charities (TASC), the National Suicide Prevention Alliance (NSPA) .  CALM also hosts the Suicide Bereavement Support Partnership (SBSP), which includes Cruse, If U Care Share, Papyrus, SoBS and the Samaritans amongst others. This partnership aims to ensure that everyone bereaved or affected by suicide is offered and receives timely and appropriate support. Its members are working collaboratively to ensure this vision becomes a reality.

CALM’s VALUES

• We believe that if men felt able to ask for and find help when they need it then hundreds of male suicides could be prevented.  We believe that there is a cultural barrier preventing men from seeking help as they are expected to be in control at all times, and failure to be seen as such equates to weakness and a loss of masculinity.
• We’re a campaign for all men, not just ‘service users’.  All of us, at one time or another regardless of gender, will hit a crisis and so we could all do with specialist support when things go wrong.
• We aren’t here to represent health professionals or the mental health industry.  CALM is about, for and on behalf of men.  We use young men’s peers, their voices and interests to reach them.  We seek to work with clubs, venues and brands with voices that men respect, feel comfortable with and trust to get our message across.

   HELPLINE SERVICE

We are a national charity and our helpline takes calls from across the UK. Our helpline service is open 5pm-midnight every day of the year.  Calls are confidential and anonymous. Calls are taken by trained and skilled helpline workers who provide support, information and signposting to callers.  We signpost to national agencies unless the caller lives within a CALMzone (see below), in which case we are able to signpost to local agencies.  This service is caller led, confidential and anonymous.  The helpline is operated on behalf of CALM by the Community Interest Company.   Callers can also access the same service via webchat.

CALM HELPLINE TELEPHONE NUMBER IS 0800 58 58 58 5pm to midnight 365 days a year

Charity reg no 11106