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Parents of Grantham girl Evelyn Gibson work with CALM in national campaign to prevent suicide amongst young people with video being aired on ITV’s This Morning




A mother and a step father tell the story of their daughter’s life in a new video that forms part of a national campaign aimed at preventing suicide among young people.

Evelyn Gibson, from Grantham, died in 2022 aged 15, following a difficult battle with mental health issues.

Her parents Jack and Jenni Swift, who also live in Grantham, are now working with CALM (Campaign Against Living Miserably) for its Missed Birthday campaign with a new video entitled ‘Evelyn’.

Evelyn Gibson.
Evelyn Gibson.

“It is a privilege to share this with people, it is not something we get upset about as it reminds us of nice memories,” said Jack.

He added: “We might get upset about missing them, but we don’t get upset about actually watching the footage again or going through old photos.

“It reminds us of old memories.”

Jenni and Jack were first approached by CALM in August about the campaign and video - it shows a collage of Evelyn’s life in the run-up to her 16th birthday, a birthday she never got to celebrate.

Watch the video here:

“We were asked if we would be interested in joining and our immediate reaction was yes,” said Jenni.

The campaign, also in partnership with ITV and the Iceland Foods Charitable Foundation (IFCF), aims to tackle the national youth suicide crisis. Half of UK adults (52%) believe the Government needs to do more to prevent suicide among young people, according to a survey by YouGov.

CALM has launched a free CARE kit, which stands for Check in, Ask how they are, Remain close and Expert help.

Evelyn died aged 15, in 2022.
Evelyn died aged 15, in 2022.

It is a series of easy-to-follow steps to support adults in the UK to have potentially life-saving conversations with young people, including guidance on keeping a young person safe.

Jenni said: “It really resonated with us and it felt really powerful.

“It felt like an opportunity to help people raise awareness and that is something that is really important for Jack and I.

“Evelyn, when she was unwell, she would say quite often she didn’t want people to go through what she went through.

The video features Jack and Jenni's memories of Evelyn.
The video features Jack and Jenni's memories of Evelyn.

“So, for us, if there is any opportunity to raise awareness to help other people and prevent other families from what we have gone through then we are all in.”

In the last decade, suicide has claimed the lives of 6,929 15 to 24 years old.

Through YouGov research, which was commissioned by CALM, it has found that 65% of UK adults wouldn’t feel confident of where to turn for practical support, if they needed to support a young person with suicidal thoughts.

It also found that 59% of people felt there is not enough public service funding for mental health and suicide prevention.

Jack and Jenni were “not surprised" with these statistics, as they themselves didn’t know where to turn when Evelyn started to struggle.

The video features Jack and Jenni's memories of Evelyn.
The video features Jack and Jenni's memories of Evelyn.

“When Evelyn started to struggle, we didn’t know what to say at the time,” added Jenni.

She said: “I think we tried to educate ourselves best we could with research and found help elsewhere, but with those initial discussions I didn’t use the word suicide.

“I couldn’t bring myself to say it because I felt like I would put the idea in her head.

“However, saying the word suicide doesn’t plant the idea in someone’s head, the idea is there already.

“By talking about suicide more openly can prevent suicide. We didn’t know all of that at the time, we didn’t know anyone else going through something similar or had been through anything remotely similar.

“We felt really isolated, it is an incredibly isolating situation.

“That is the whole point of this campaign, so we can help parents, carers, coaches, any responsible adults to have those talks, to have that confidence to have those different conversations.”

Jack reiterated Jenni’s point saying it is important to raise awareness.

He added: “People say we need to raise awareness, but then they don’t actually talk about it.

“It still feels like a taboo subject. Suicide is not a dirty word.”

Suicide is the biggest killed among young people, so Jenni and Jack say there needs to be more conversations with young people.

Jack added: “It used to be road traffic accidents, but it’s not anymore, it’s suicide.

“So therefore, we need to do something about it.”

Jenni said: “We talk to our kids about sex, drugs, traffic and all these situations about being safe.

“But, we don’t have these open conversations about mental health and suicide.”

The video will be broadcast live on This Morning today (Tuesday, January 28), but will then appear on LadBible, selected cinemas, Sky, Four on Demand and social media.

Jack said he hopes it “encourages people to have those difficult conversations”.

Jenni added: “I think the film will resonate with a lot of people and I think that comes across really strongly.

“The footage of Evelyn riding her bike and her birthdays, I think all parents will really resonate and think ‘that could be me’.

“I think there is a lot of stigma around young suicide and thinking young people that die from suicide come from a particular type of family, they come from a certain upbringing, or they had a sad life.

“One of our hopes with the film is to show that Evelyn came from a really loving home. We had a really happy life together, yet she really struggled.

“If that resonated with other people that gets them to look at the CALM CARE kit and people can get more knowledge and understanding themselves and have those conversations, then we have done what we want to do.”

CALM has a helpline for anyone feeling suicidal, which is open from 5pm until midnight, and can be reached by calling 0800 58 58 58.

Samaritans also offer FREE round the clock, confidential support to anyone that wants to talk through their problems, which could include relationship and family problems, bereavement, financial worries, job-related stress or college and study-related stress. Call 116 123, calls are free from any phone, or visit www.samaritans.org.



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