IFCF PARTNER UP WITH CALM TO HELP UNITE AGAINST SUICIDE
Iceland Foods Charitable Foundation (IFCF) is delighted to announce the Campaign Against Living Miserably (CALM) as their new 2024 Charity Partner of the Year.
IFCF are partnering with CALM to raise awareness of the suicide prevention charity and encourage life-saving conversations on CALM’s helpline, at our tills and around the dinner tables, changing the landscape forever and helping to remove the stigma of suicide across the UK.
Our broader goal is to help create 5 million life-saving conversations, one for every customer that walks through our store doors each week, by starting the biggest conversation ever about suicide. Money raised will help with CALM’s vital helpline service.
Currently in the UK, data shows 1 in 5 of us will have suicidal thoughts at some point in their lifetime, 125 people are lost every week to suicide and shockingly someone dies by suicide every 90 minutes on average in the UK. Proof that we urgently need to highlight this issue to our millions of customers, colleagues, and suppliers.
Suicide is the most preventable cause of death in the UK and with the right support and interventions, outcomes can change. We can help kick-start a much-needed conversation about suicide in the UK and raise funds for CALM’s life-saving work.
During the partnership, our Iceland and Food Warehouse colleagues, charity champions, and store managers nationwide will take on several fundraising challenges in a bid to raise £300,000 for CALM. When visiting your local Iceland store or Food Warehouse, look out for our Charity Weeks that will be taking place between Thursday 2nd May and Saturday 1st June. The money raised during store charity weeks will go towards CALM’s life-saving work/helpline to help ensure more people than ever are encouraged to stay.
Our first-of-its-kind partnership will help smash the stigma by educating and empowering people to start life-saving conversations about suicide and mental health through in-store messaging and prompts. It will take the urgent issue of suicide prevention to the British high street and our communities, we serve, aiming to reach our five million weekly customers.
Simon Gunning, CALM CEO: “We’re thrilled to be teaming up with Iceland Foods Charitable Foundation on a groundbreaking partnership to break the silence around suicide and bring hope and life-saving conversations to high streets and Iceland stores across the UK.
It’s been a tough few years, and for many, it can feel like things aren’t going to get much better any time soon. This partnership with Iceland will raise awareness of CALM’s life-saving message and services with millions of people, providing support to anyone struggling and potentially saving lives. CALM is a lifeline for so many people right now, and with the support of Iceland, we can continue to reach more people than ever in our fight against suicide.’’
Tarsem Dhaliwal, Group Chief Executive of Iceland Foods and Trustee of Iceland Foods Charitable Foundation said: “Iceland is at the heart of hundreds of communities, with our stores welcoming five million customers every week. This incredible campaign will enable us to raise awareness to our customers and colleagues about mental health and help to end the stigma around it by empowering them to have lifesaving conversations.
“Mental health is one of the biggest growing concerns in the UK, with 125 people per week losing their lives to suicide and bringing attention to it is key in stopping these preventable deaths.
“Our amazing colleagues will be taking part in several fundraising efforts in Iceland stores nationwide to help raise £300,000 to support CALM and the vital work they do. We’ll also have in-store messaging on display to help start those all-important conversations with our customers and help spread the message that life is always worth living.”
More information about CALM and its life-saving work can be found via the CALM website.
