Researching the unresearchable: How research helped Samaritans in their campaign to reduce suicide

Nicola Peckett and Nick Johnson

In the UK, 6,000 people take their own lives every year; 4,000 of them are men. Samaritans, a charity providing emotional support to those experiencing despair, sought to develop an ad campaign aimed at reducing male suicide.

Researching the unresearchable: How research helped Samaritans in their campaign to reduce suicide

Nicola Peckett and Nick JohnsonSamaritans, UK and Volante Research, UK

BACKGROUND

The World Health Organisation estimates that around one million people die by suicide every year. In the United Kingdom, 6,000 people take their own lives every year, and 4,000 of them are men.

Of those 6,000, more than 200 kill themselves on the railways. Contrary to popular belief, most do not jump off a platform. In fact, 63% chose to die on what is known as ‘open track’, miles from the nearest station. No one...

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