Sheffield presenter Mike McCarthy whose son took his own life launches UK’s ‘biggest’ suicide awareness campaign

Charity Baton of Hope was co-founded by two fathers, former Sheffield TV reporter and presenter Mike McCarthy and Steve Phillip, from Harrogate, who were brought together through tragic circumstances.

In 2019, Steve tragically lost his son Jordan to suicide aged only 34. And just 14 months later, Mike’s son Ross, a 31-year-old father-of-one took his own life. However, their stories are not dissimilar to so many other families as 17 people in the UK will die by suicide every single day – a figure which the pair are campaigning to change.

This summer, the charity is launching the UK’s biggest ever suicide awareness campaign by passing around a baton to bereaved families and friends in 12 cities in the UK to highlight the magnitude of the suicide crisis, and to help break the stigma surrounding the subject.

The baton has been designed, crafted and donated by Thomas Lyte, who holds a Royal Warrant as Goldsmiths and Silversmiths to the Late Queen Elizabeth II.

Starting in Glasgow on Sunday, June 25, the baton will eventually reach Downing Street on Thursday, July 6. The charity has invited families of those who have lost loved ones to suicide to carry the baton on its tour, with applications open at batonofhopeuk.org. It will arrive in Sheffield on Wednesday, June 28.

Mike, a former Sky News and BBC correspondent who lives in Sheffield, said: “I am deeply moved and humbled to be accepting the baton which will be carried with honour as a symbol of compassion, hope and responsibility. ‘Responsibility’ because everyone of us can play a part in bringing down the UK’s stubbornly high suicide rate which kills more adults under 35 than anything else."

Ross McCarthy took his own life when he was just 31, leaving a devastated family including his three-year old-son and a fiancée who he had been unable to marry because of lockdown. He was described by his family as ‘faithful, loyal and loving’.

In a farewell letter, Ross urged his family: “Please fight for mental health. The support is just not there.” After suffering with severe depression for more than 10 years, he was put on a six-month long waiting list for therapy. Ross died two weeks into the wait.

Mike said: “Like hundreds of thousands of others, my son died partly as the result of an overstretched, underfunded, mental health provision which has long been treated as the Cinderella service of the NHS and swept under the carpet. The suicide statistics in the UK have stagnated for more than 15 years. It’s time for change.

“I hope that people from all backgrounds and walks of life will recognise that the vast majority of suicides are preventable with the right care. We have a huge mountain to climb in breaking the stigma, educating our children about the importance of mental wellbeing and re-calibrating our approach to the societal catastrophe created by suicide.”

Anyone struggling to cope is urged to contact Samaritans, whose volunteers are available to listen around the clock. Please email [email protected] or call 116 123.