84 statues of British men who took their own lives unveiled in suicide prevention campaign

Statues of 84 British men who tragically took their own lives have been unveiled as part of a male suicide prevention campaign from UK charity, CALM.

The art installation on top of This Morning's studios aims to raise awareness about the fact that 84 men take their own lives every week in the UK.

Sisters Georgina, Channon and Adrienne whose father took his own life aged 45 have revealed how seeing a statue of their dad, Paul, has made them feel.

"Breathtaking, it was really quite shocking actually, seeing all the statues," Georgina told ITV's This Morning, which is backing the campaign.

"Because it's such a hard thing to picture - 84 men together - it was really shocking, yeah."

Suicide continues to be the single biggest killer of men under 45, with three in four of all suicides being male.

Matthew Smith, whose brother took his own life, is spearheading the campaign with a petition calling on the Government to take ownership of suicide prevention and bereavement support.

In the petition he states: "Every single suicide directly affects 135 people – people like me, people like you.

"Beyond this unimaginable emotional cost, every single suicide costs an estimated £1.67 million – a cost to families, friends and wider society.

"Yet no minister in the UK government is officially responsible for suicide prevention and bereavement support."

For Georgina and her sisters, their dad's death came as a shock despite Paul planning his suicide and leaving goodbye messages for his family.

"It was completely unexpected, none of us had any idea, he was the joker, always the funny one, making everybody laugh," Georgina said.

"If you'd just met him he'd be making you laugh within minutes.

"He was also very loving as well. You really would never have guessed, nobody knew."

This Morning host Holly Willoughby who is also backing the campaign said: "As I was driving up to the building this morning to come to work, just looking up at our tower - it's such a dominating site on the South Bank - to see that at the top, it's just incredibly powerful."

The sculptures - designed by US street artist Mark Jenkins - have split opinions on social media with some praising the art work while others have deemed it "insensitive."

If you are in distress or need some support, the Samaritans are available 24 hours a day on 116 123 or through their website.

The website is: https://www.samaritans.org/how-we-can-help-you