Choose To Stay
Mental Health Awareness Week May 2023, Minus Cloud Nine illustrations will be across London underground to align with their mission of opening up conversations around mental health and suicide prevention.
Along with thought provoking illustrations with messages of hope attached we have teamed up with Thrive London and Zero Suicide Alliance (ZSA) to direct anyone looking for help or resources in the right direction and encourage individuals to take the free suicide awareness training.
Artist Charlotte Robinson started creating artwork with characters having a cloud for a head in 2014 after caring for someone close to her who struggled with their mental health and would describe it as a 'black cloud directly above their head that they couldn't shift'. Charlotte has used these drawings to build Minus Cloud Nine which is a business based on opening up conversations around mental health through creativity, workshops, skill share and sustainable goods.
The latest figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show that in 2020 there were 543 suicides recorded in London Underground. In 2021 there were 5,583 suicides registered in England and Wales with 74% of them being males. Showing the highest suicide rates were seen among persons aged 45 to 54 years.
Minus Cloud Nine wanted to bring art to the busy city of London that may stop people in their tracks, take a deep breath, practice gratitude or even take a snap to send to someone it reminded them of.
We hope not only the campaign title will speak for itself, we see the potential to start a powerful movement of people taking photos/selfies including the illustrations with their own #ChooseToStay telling their own stories and spreading hope online too.
Conversations save lives, we hope these messages of hope ignite lots of conversations between others on their good, bad and grey days but most importantly reminds individuals who may be struggling that they are not alone and to choose to stay.
About Thrive London
Thrive LDN is a citywide public mental health partnership to ensure all Londoners have an equal opportunity for good mental health and wellbeing.
We are a coalition of partners working towards the shared mission of ensuring everyone living or working in London is treated fairly and can live a happy and healthy life.
Who we are
Thrive LDN is a citywide public mental health partnership to ensure all Londoners have an equal opportunity for good mental health and wellbeing.
Find out more about Thrive London at: www.thriveldn.co.uk
About the ZSA
The Zero Suicide Alliance (ZSA) aims to empower, educate, and equip individuals and organisations to support suicide awareness and prevention.
The ZSA offers free online suicide awareness and prevention training and resources.
They work in collaboration and partnership with a wide range of people and organisations. Bringing together different skills and expertise helps ensure the work we are doing meets the needs of different groups of people.
Training
In 2017, ZSA launched their 20-minute suicide awareness training. Since then, they have worked with different organisations and groups to develop other editions of the training which are more targeted to specific audiences.
Their aim is to keep this training free and easy for anyone to do so that more people feel confidence and able to talk to someone who may be struggling with suicidal thoughts. We believe this can help save lives.
Find out more about ZSA training at: www.zerosuicidealliance.com/training
