Suicide prevention: Will Vaulks to carry baton to help raise awareness

Footballer Will Vaulks is to carry a baton in a relay to raise awareness of suicide, after both his grandfathers took their own lives.

The Sheffield Wednesday midfielder, 29, said he wanted to support the charity Baton of Hope as his own life had been touched by suicide as a teenager.

The relay will run from Glasgow to London this summer, with bereaved people carrying the baton.

Baton of Hope was set up by two fathers who lost sons to suicide.

Mike McCarthy, from Sheffield, lost his son Ross in 2021 and Steve Phillip, from Harrogate, lost Jordan in 2019.

They came up with the idea of a silver baton which would be carried, like an Olympic torch, by families and friends of people who have taken their lives.

Mr McCarthy, 65, a journalist who worked for the BBC and Sky News, said his 31-year-old son had left a note asking his family to campaign for better mental health support.

He met Mr Phillip while they both campaigned independently for better mental healthcare provision, and have since co-founded Baton of Hope.

Mr McCarthy said: "After we lost Ross, he left a farewell letter and one of the things he said in the letter that we should fight for mental health, the support is just not there.

"I got talking to Steve Phillip, who lost his son Jordan, and we were talking about what we could do, how we could bring hope to people, and in a nutshell that is how the Baton of Hope was born."

Mr Phillip's son Jordan was diagnosed with clinical depression and anxiety in May 2015, which led to cognitive behavioural therapy and several rounds of anti-depressants.

Jordan, 34, was found dead by his fiancee in December 2019, with his family later finding out from his journals that he suffered from body dysmorphia - self-loathing over his appearance.

Baton of Hope is described as "the biggest suicide awareness initiative the nation has seen", with Mr McCarthy and Mr Phillip contacting politicians, government departments, the NHS, businesses, schools, charities and individuals to support their campaign.

They want them to "sign up to their vision of a society where suicide is openly discussed, warning signs are spotted early and far more is done to prevent it".

Mr Vaulks said: "I lost both my grandads to suicide when I was 14 and 16, maybe a bit younger.

"Mental health is a massive thing at the moment that we have neglected for so many years. To have a personal side, my two grandads didn't talk about mental health at all, it was just out of the blue.

"I want to do as much as I can to help men talk."

The baton has been made by Thomas Lyte, maker of the FA Cup trophy, and will begin its UK tour in Glasgow on 25 June, ending in London on 6 July.

If you have been affected by these issues you can visit the BBC's Action Line.

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