Striving to help people end their misery, not their lives, the Campaign Against Living Miserably (CALM) has launched the second phase of its heart wrenching ‘Missed Birthdays’ campaign. 

An emotive film follows the story of a young girl named Evelyn. Through home videos audiences see Evelyn celebrate birthdays and Christmases with her family filled with joy, laughing and dancing. We watch her grow alongside her family, playing and bonding with her siblings. 

The film is paired with narration from Evelyn’s mum. She remembers her daughter's laughter, her smile and her hugs. The spot is an emotional letter to Evelyn remembering her ahead of her birthday. At the end of the heartwarming spot, audiences learn that Evelyn’s 15th birthday was to be her last.  

Audiences are struck with the sad statistic that Evelyn is one of 6,929 young people who have taken their own life in the last decade. Remembering Evelyn and the other young people who have lost their lives to suicide, CALM strives for no more missed birthdays.

The film was created with the help of agency Adam&eveDDB, in partnership with ITV and the7Stars. The campaign was made possible with funding from Iceland Foods Charitable Foundation (IFCF). The film was directed by Sebastian Edwards and produced by Academy Films. Media is managed by the7stars and PR by Hope & Glory.

Evelyn’s story is the latest instalment of CALM’s missed birthdays campaign, which started with an initial activation at Westfield London in 2024. A striking display of 6,929 balloons in the shopping centre served to represent the missed birthdays of young people. 

The latest iteration of the campaign leans on emotive storytelling to bring to light the issue of youth suicide and its impact on families.It is designed  to encourage people to speak openly about their feelings and seek support. 

The campaign aims to spotlight the increase and magnitude of youth suicide; 929 15-24-year-olds have been lost to suicide between 2012 and 2022. Yet despite this statistics show that only 15% of parents and carers have spoken about mental health and suicide with loved ones, despite 2 in 5 young people admitting to experiencing a mental health crisis or suicidal thoughts.

Making audiences stop in their tracks the campaign aims to make the issue of youth suicide unignorable to encourage conversation. The film directs viewers to the CALM C.A.R.E. Kit, an online resource and suite of practical tools that enable parents and trusted adults to play an active role in ending youth suicide. The kit hosts a comprehensive collection of resources designed to help prevent suicide by recognising and supporting young people throughout life and in moments of crisis.

“It is unacceptable that we have lost 6,929 young people to suicide in the last decade. Behind that stark statistic are real people, and thousands of families going through the unimaginable pain of losing a child.” says Simon Gunning, Chief Executive Officer, CALM.

He continues: “We at CALM want to thank every single person that has generously shared their story with the Missed Birthdays campaign to date, and to Evelyn’s parents for the courage they have shown in allowing us to help tell their story in this new film. With their help, we’re urging absolutely everyone to save, share and bookmark the C.A.R.E. Kit. We all have a role to play in ending youth suicide.”

To maximise exposure for the deepest impact, the omnichannel campaign planned and booked by the7stars will span across cinema, TV, video-on-demand and social channels for four weeks. 

Helen Oakley, Client Lead at the7stars, explained: “To maximise impact and understanding of the issues young people currently face, we have prioritised viewing environments that allow us to tell the longer story, to really hit home and land the message.”

Through the power of storytelling, the emotional hard-hitting campaign strikes a chord with families to check in on their loved ones. “Evelyn’s story is one that will stay with us and we thank her family for sharing their memories of her with us,” add Ant Nelson & Mike Sutherland, Executive Creative Directors, adam&eveDDB.

The CALM C.A.R.E. Kit is available for free at thecalmzone.net.