A group aiming to help suicide survivors and their families across Cumbria is asking businesses to back its Just One Pound appeal.
A sister whose brother took his own life is leading a bid to raise awareness of suicide by putting Cumbria at the heart of a national Baton of Hope campaign.
Lisa Birdsall, whose brother Stephen took his own life, showed great determination to ensure that Cumbria was awarded a chance to host the symbolic Baton of Hope on Sunday September 7 this year, 10 years on from Stephen’s death.
Lisa, who lives and works in Carlisle and is from West Cumbria, her husband Jonny, and suicide survivors and families of loved ones who have taken their own lives will form a relay through the county, with more than 80 baton holders, backed by a range of businesses providing funding and logistical support.
Now a group of Cumbrian businesses giving their support to the campaign are asking fellow firms to back a local appeal by inviting all their employees to each donate Just One Pound to the cause.
Ken Johnston, business liaison manager at Forth which has bases at Flimby, Cleator Moor and Barrow, and fellow members of the Cumbria Baton of Hope committee, came up with the appeal to help people make a small donation even when times are tough.
Ken said: “By encouraging businesses across Cumbria to ask their employees if they would donate Just One Pound, we are hoping that it will not only enable a greater number of people to donate, but also to acknowledge that suicide is an issue that we should all come together across the county to address.
“Whatever our background, wherever in the county we live and work, many of us know someone affected by suicide. If we are to truly tackle mental health and suicide issues in Cumbria it needs us all to unite and find better ways to help.”
Lisa said: “In Cumbria we have some of the worst statistics on suicide in the UK – Cumbria’s overall statistics on suicide are 55 per cent above the national average.
“The former Copeland area has the highest suicide rate per capita in the UK. Carlisle is second. Men account for 75 per cent of suicides. But females outnumber men by more than half in terms of suicide attempts.
“When it comes to talking about suicide we often focus on the despair. We need to turn the message around because the golden thread binding us all together through this is hope. I want us to show what there is out there to help people.
“We are raising the profile of the need to talk. To be preventative we need to be open and honest about mental health discussions.
“There are a lot of suicide charities, but we can be siloed. The Baton of Hope is designed to bring all of us together and make us a stronger force for change.”
Team members from Forth, including projects director Graham Cartwright and Ken, are among businesses represented on Cumbria’s Baton of Hope organising committee.
Graham said: “We know how prevalent suicide is in Cumbria and we know how devastating it is for everyone concerned, for all families and friends, and we absolutely know that more needs to be done to help those who are in a dark place and who feel, for whatever reason, that there is no other way out.
“We have been only too glad to give our support to Lisa and Jonny to help make the Baton of Hope coming to Cumbria a turning point for mental health support in the county.”
A campaign mural has been created by Cumbrian-based artists Beardy and Twiggy at Strand Street, in Whitehaven to promote the appeal.
Baton of Hope Cumbria event partners The Decommissioning Alliance (TDA) and other businesses, organisations, charities and venues who have already given their support to the event include: Forth, Sellafield Ltd, Goodlives, Whitehaven RL, The Beacon, local schools, Whitehaven Harbour Commissioners, Irvings Coaches, Penrith Young Farmers, Carlisle United FC, the New Fire Station (Carlisle), Andy Man’s Club, NHS, First Responders, Carlisle Castle, and English Heritage.
The Baton of Hope charity was founded in 2022 by two dads, Mike McCarthy and Steve Phillip, who both lost family members to suicide.
Mike wanted to ensure that the legacy of his son Ross’ death would be to change the landscape of mental health services in the UK.
The Baton of Hope is due to set off from Leconfield, Cleator Moor, in the early morning of September 7, starting at Forth’s offices and Sellafield Ltd’s Engineering Centre of Excellence.
It will stop at the Goodlives project at Westlakes Science Park, before moving onto Whitehaven. It will then travel to Bassenthwaite Lake, Penrith, and onto Carlisle.
For more information, visit www.batonofhopecumbria.co.uk
To donate to Cumbria’s Just One Pound appeal, visit www.gofundme.com/f/baton-of-hope-cumbria-tour
