CALM gives men 14 lines to say what they can’t

Suicide prevention charity CALM marked National Poetry Day with Life Lines, a poetry anthology made with Ogilvy Health UK.

It gives men poems about difficult feelings to read, then leaves space for them to write their own.

Every poem runs to exactly 14 lines, one for each of the 14 men the campaign estimates die by suicide every day in the UK.

People affected by suicide wrote them under four themes: pressure, isolation, stress and burnout, and trauma. A blank page follows each poem, so the book doubles as a journal.

The format does most of the work. A sonnet-length poem can be read between two tube stops, and a blank page asks far less of a man than a phone call does.

Copies went out at train stations, tube stops and pubs on 1 October, and digital out-of-home sites and social creators carried the poems further.

“Every line in this book represents a life that should still be with us,” said John McPartland, executive creative director EMEA at Ogilvy Health UK. “If one line helps one person open up, it matters.”

CALM says suicide is the biggest killer of men under 50 in the UK. Its Missed Birthdays balloon installation at Westfield London took the same message to shoppers.

“CALM’s work is all about making suicide prevention a part of daily life, and most of all it’s about meeting people where they are,” said Simon Gunning, CALM’s CEO.

If you are struggling or worried about someone, CALM’s support pages have advice, and its helpline is open 5pm to midnight every day on 0800 58 58 58.

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