A national campaign to help prevent suicide is rolling across the country today.
Wesley Mission is partnering with outdoor advertiser Adshel in a vital and inventive awareness strategy that will run until the end of 2014.
More than 250 bus shelters in Brisbane, Sydney, Canberra, Melbourne and Adelaide will carry the Spot the signs, help stop suicideWesley Mission message as part of Adshel’s The Importance of Giving Back campaign.
Posters are appearing in metropolitan and regional bush shelters for the next six months. The cause is compelling: over 2,500 Australians take their own lives annually.
“More lives are lost to suicide each year than from skin cancer or road deaths,” the CEO of Wesley Mission the Rev Dr Keith Garner said. “Simple effective interventions can make a difference and save lives. The support of Adshel will help raise awareness, build strength and understanding in communities and help prevent suicide.”
Wesley Mission has a long and ground-breaking record in suicide prevention: founding the crisis telephone counselling service Lifeline in 1963 and Wesley LifeForce in 1995, which has now trained more than 20,000 Australians in suicide prevention through workshops, seminars and the establishment of community networks.
The three poster advertisements were photographed by Sydney photographer Nick May.
The posters focus upon three different people who are dealing with a range of tangible and pressing issues. The campaign message is to help Australians spot the signs of suicide as early as possible and to attend a Wesley LifeForce suicide intervention skills training workshop
“By highlighting the thoughts of a father, brother, mother, son or friend it will enable people to be more aware of the hidden signs of depression and suicide,” Dr Garner said.
The campaign was developed in consultation with Mindframe. The Australian Government’s Mindframe National Media Initiative (Mindframe) aims to encourage responsible, accurate and sensitive representation of mental illness and suicide in the Australian mass media.
