Family of Leighton Buzzard student who lost her life to suicide attend unveiling of 'memorial'

The Campaign Against Living Miserably (CALM) works to raise awareness of youth suicide and today unveiled a powerful installation of balloons at Westfield, London, ahead of World Suicide Prevention Day on September 10. (9/9)

Each of the 6,929 birthday balloons featured represents a young life lost to suicide and a birthday that person never reached.

Aged just 19, Amelia Butlin, lost her life to suicide in October 2023, after battling with depression and ADHD, despite demonstrating continuous strength and progress.

Her mother Becci has joined the campaign to help tackle youth suicide echoing the crucial message that Campaign Against Living Miserably (CALM) hopes to spread and the importance of those challenging, yet essential, conversations.

Becci said: “Amelia was ordinary in many ways. She was happy and did well at school. But mental health is such a complex issue and my advice to anyone whose child is experiencing mental health problems is, don’t go it alone. Help is available with advice and tools to help support not only yourself, but siblings, other family members and friends.

“My message would be, don’t try to educate yourself – find out what help is out there to navigate the complexities of mental health.

“Charities like CALM are there to offer advice and point you in the right direction but often you’re not aware of the symptoms of mental help until it's too late, so it’s important to raise awareness of youth suicide. This is a real young person’s issue.”

She added: "Obviously losing Amelia has been difficult. It has been horrendous but we, my husband Mark, and Amelia’s siblings Oscar, 19, and Harriet 17, have to get on with life but it’s important to keep Amelia's memory alive. Grief is different for everyone but we have to find a way to go on.

“We were at the unveiling of a static installation at Westfield shopping centre which features the names of nearly 7,000 young people who have lost their lives to suicide.

“It was important for us all to be there for Amelia.”

Suicide is now the leading cause of death for young people aged 15-24 in the UK, and new research from Campaign Against Living Miserably (CALM) reveals how parents are struggling to have potentially life-saving conversations with their children.

As well as supporting CALM’s event marking World Suicide Prevention Day, Amelia's family and friends have been taking part in events including a night time walk in June to raise awareness of mental health care.

Organiser Naomi Woodford works in the student support centre at Cedars Upper School, Leighton Buzzard, where Amelia was a student, and has seen first hand the impact mental health issues can have on youngsters.

Naomi stated: “Alongside my colleague and friend Carrie Barden-Marshall, we support students with their mental health and emotional wellbeing. Sadly, the Cedars and Leighton Buzzard community have been affected deeply in recent years with the loss of young people who have taken their lives.”

In a moving statement, Amelia’s parents Becci and Mark Butlin said: “As a family we are devastated and we have also seen the huge impact this has had on Amelia’s friendship group and the wider community. One suicide impacts at least 125 people but most probably, this is many more.

"We are now even more aware of the challenges young people face every day and how this is exacerbated in a world that demands constant contact through phones and social media giving little opportunity for mental rest.

"For Amelia, living in this world as an adult simply overwhelmed her. Amelia attended Cedars Upper School and had very happy school years. We are supporting CALM to drive awareness of the most devastating outcome of mental health struggles and to support a charity that does amazing work to prevent suicide.”

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