Suicide is the leading cause of death for 15 to 34 year-olds in the UK. A shocking statistic which is the fuel for change powered by creativity for the Campaign Against Living Miserably’s (Calm) latest campaign from Adam&EveDDB.

At the heart of the campaign is a major activation at Westfield London which was live between 9th and 11th September.

The installation used a universal symbol of celebration, birthday balloons, to deliver a somber message of loss and raise awareness of the tragedy that is youth suicide. It featured 6,929 balloons, each one representing the life of a young person who died by suicide in the last decade and the birthday they did not reach.

Suicide is now the leading cause of death for people under 34 in the UK, with women under the age of 24 forming the fastest growing group in history at risk of taking their own lives. Missed Birthdays seeks to turn the tragic increase and magnitude of youth suicide into an unignorable and nationwide talking point.

Simon Gunning, Chief Executive Officer at Calm says: “It’s devastating for a young person to not make it to their 15th, 16th, 17th birthday. It’s absolutely tragic when that reason is suicide. Over the last decade, 6,929 families have been affected by the tragedy of youth suicide. We want to thank everyone who shared their stories in this campaign for their strength and courage, and hope it can open up conversations and give everyone the tools to support the young people in their lives.”

The campaign has partnered with ITV, a brand which has a long-standing commitment to tackling mental health both through its long standing partnership with CALM and through the hugely successful ‘Get Britain Talking’ initiative, which supported a national conversation about mental health.

In this latest iteration of Calm’s long term partnership with ITV, programming dedicated to youth suicide will run with live broadcast and interviews on ITV’s flagship daytime programme, This Morning, with Calm CEO, Simon Gunning and Services Director, Wendy Robinson, and loved ones of young people who feature as part of the campaign.

Visitors to the installation were given the opportunity to hear intimate voice notes from loved ones who have lost a young person to suicide, describing what they were like and what they hope to achieve in being part of the Missed Birthdays campaign.

Supporting the project, the7stars has negotiated a number of strategic media partnerships to deliver a fully integrated campaign with mass reach, including content and editorial coverage across press, digital and OOH. TV and radio is planned for later in the year.

Missed Birthdays will also be supported by a press and out-of-home campaign that spotlights the stories young people lost to suicide. JCDecaux, Bauer, Reach, Outernet, Mail Metro, Evening Standard, News UK, Guardian, Clear Channel and Ocean Outdoor are all backing the cause with channel specific and locally targeted messaging to deliver maximum impact and relevance.

To enable trusted adults to play an active role in ending youth suicide, all messaging in the campaign will direct to a newly-created resource, the Calm C.A.R.E. kit – a suite of practical tools and resources designed to equip trusted adults with everything needed to be there for a young person - from introducing the topic to keeping them safe in crisis.

Through this campaign, Calm and ITV aim to unite the public in addressing the tragedy of youth suicide and empower every adult to play a role in protecting young lives.

Ant Nelson & Mike Sutherland, Executive Creative Directors, adam&eveDDB, added: “The numbers behind youth suicide are a sobering statistic. Talking about the number of lives lost to this tragedy is one thing, but seeing the sheer volume represented with birthday balloons and the ages these young people didn’t reach is another. We hope that anyone who engages with the campaign will be motivated to use Calm’s tools and help end youth suicide for good.”

The Missed Birthdays campaign is made possible by funding from the Iceland Foods Charitable Foundation (IFCF).

Calm and Adam&EveDDB worked with Creative Giants on the design and build of the installation at Westfield, White City, where great care was taken to ensure it is was sustainable as possible, opting for air filled foil balloons, manufactured in the UK. The live event finished on Wednesday, 11 September, when the installation was donated to charity Children's Scrap Project who intend to reuse the balloons for a range of arts and crafts projects, including: children's workshops, drama projects, back drops, displays, collage, sensory rooms, holistic play and a variety of educational projects.

While this week marked World Suicide Prevention Day on (10th September) the enduring partnership between Adam&EveDDB and CALM has ensured this topic has stayed at the very top of the agenda all year round.