Baton of Hope

At the end of June we were privileged to carry the Baton of Hope, one of the biggest suicide awareness and prevention initiatives this country has ever seen. 

After losing his son Ross to suicide in 2021 Mike McCarthy identified that there were many individuals and organisations across the country working on suicide prevention projects. The idea of the Baton of Hope sprang from Mike’s realisation that much of this work was being done in isolation; the Baton of Hope is designed to shine a light on these people and the work they do, bring them together and shout out a message of hope to everyone who is suffering – there is help out there.

The three of us were baton bearers on its journey through Manchester.  This short video was made by the team at #ShiningaLightonSuicide

It was an incredibly powerful and emotional day which brought hundreds of people together, many of them suicide bereaved parents, to send out a message of hope.

Suicide is preventable.

At the Etihad Stadium with Mike McCarthy and Kolo Toure from the League Managers Association