Please donate £5 to stop suicide

I am making one last plea for donations to the Campaign Against Living Miserably (CALM). I've been trying to raise awareness of this suicide prevention charity since I stopped drinking for a month in October.

I know how often you are all asked to donate to charity. I know you are fed up of people seeking attention for so-called hardships in return for money for a charity to which they might not even have a connection.

My brother hanged himself on the 19th April 2007. I will never, ever forget my mum's words on the phone: "The inevitable's happened. Paul's gone. He's gone."

No suicide should be inevitable. Suicide kills more men aged 20-49 in England & Wales than anything else: cancer, heart disease, diabetes, road traffic accidents. And for every 1 person who kills themselves there are 20 more attempted suicides.

Please, please, take a packed lunch into work tomorrow, forego a drink at the bar on Friday, and donate £5 to the Campaign Against Living Miserably, who work long into the night every night as a solace for people who have decided they don't want to live any more.

CALM could have helped Paul if he'd called, and can help the other tens of thousands of men who contemplate suicide every year.

I don't want any more sisters, mothers, fathers and brothers to go through what I did. The grief drove me to the deepest depth of despair and it nearly killed my mum. No parent should have to bury their child.

Please help CALM provide a lifeline to people struggling with suicidal thoughts.

From their website:

We seek to prevent male suicide by:-

• Offering support to men in the UK, of any age, who are down or in crisis via our helpline and website. 
• Challenging a culture that prevents men seeking help when they need it, see www.yearofthemale.com
• Pushing for changes in policy and practice so that suicide is better prevented via partnerships such as The Alliance of Suicide Prevention Charities (TASC), the National Suicide Prevention Alliance (NSPA). 
• CALM also hosts the Suicide Bereavement Support Partnership, (which includes Cruse, If U Care Share, Papyrus, SoBS and the Samaritans amongst others). This partnership aims to ensure that everyone bereaved or affected by suicide is offered and receives timely and appropriate support. Its members are working collaboratively to ensure this vision becomes a reality.