Includability is pledging its silence for Papyrus

On Friday 24 July, we're taking part in Shattering the Silence, a 24-hour sponsored silence run by youth suicide prevention charity Papyrus. We'd like as many organisations as possible to join us.

The idea is deliberately simple. Teams go quiet for a working day. No calls, no meetings. An out-of-office explains why and carries a link for people to sponsor them. The next day, everyone breaks the silence by reaching out to one person and checking in.

It works because it asks for very little and reaches a long way. Every out-of-office lands with a client, a partner, a contact. A quiet day at the desk becomes a day of suicide prevention awareness, and the money raised helps keep HopeLine 24/7, Papyrus's suicide prevention helpline, open around the clock.

Suicide is the biggest killer of young people in the UK, and it's still a subject most people avoid. In Papyrus's survey of more than 1,100 young people, only a third said they feel comfortable talking about it. Going quiet for a day, then breaking that silence with a conversation, is a small way to start changing that.

If your organisation wants to take part, you can pledge your silence here: https://givp.nl/register/Pc40Qq3T

Or Visit Papyrus Here

Why we're going quiet on 24 July

There's a particular kind of silence that says something. Not the awkward kind, or the absence of anything to say. The deliberate kind. The silence you choose because the point you want to make is bigger than the words you'd normally fill the day with.

That's the silence we're choosing on Friday 24 July, and we'd like you to consider choosing it too.

What we're doing

Papyrus, the UK's youth suicide prevention charity, is running a campaign called Shattering the Silence. It's a 24-hour sponsored silence, and the mechanics are refreshingly light. Your team goes quiet for a working day. No Teams calls, no meetings, no back and forth. Everyone sets an out-of-office that explains where they've gone and why, with a link for people to sponsor them.

You pick a start time that suits you and run the silence for 24 hours from there. Then, the next day, everyone breaks the silence in the same way: by reaching out to one person. A message you've been meaning to send. A proper "how are you, really?" to someone who might need it.

That's it. A quiet Friday, a conversation on Saturday.

Why the silence works

The clever part isn't the going quiet. It's what the quiet does.

Every out-of-office lands somewhere. With a client, a supplier, a contact who emails you out of habit and gets a message back explaining that today, this organisation is silent for suicide prevention. A day at the desk turns into a day of awareness that travels well beyond your own walls, without a single event to organise or a venue to book.

And the money makes a real difference. Every three minutes, someone contacts Papyrus's helpline, HopeLine 24/7. The funds raised help keep that line open, staffed and available at any hour, alongside the charity's wider work across the UK. To put it in real terms, £15 can fund a lifesaving call. £60 can train someone to safely support a person who is thinking of suicide. £175 can fund a suicide prevention consultation to help a school develop its own policy.

Why it matters to us

Suicide is the biggest killer of young people in the UK. That fact should stop anyone in their tracks, and yet the subject stays largely unspoken. Papyrus asked more than 1,100 young people whether they feel comfortable talking about suicide. Only a third said yes.

That gap, between how common the crisis is and how rarely we discuss it, is exactly the kind of thing worth breaking. As one suicide survivor working with the campaign put it, prevention isn't only the job of professionals and charities. It belongs to all of us. It starts with checking in on a friend, asking a hard question, and listening without judgement.

That sits close to how we think about workplace culture. The things that protect people are rarely grand. More often they're small, consistent, human. A silence held on purpose. A message sent the next morning.

How to take part

If you'd like your organisation to join in, the whole thing runs on five steps: tell your people, set up your fundraising through JustGiving, choose your 24 hours, switch on the out-of-office, and break the silence the next day by reaching out to someone. Papyrus supplies the out-of-office wording and helps you through the fundraising setup, so there's very little to build from scratch.

You can pledge your silence here: https://givp.nl/register/Pc40Qq3T

And if you know other organisations who might take part, please pass it on. The more of us who go quiet, the louder the silence gets.

If you need support

If you're thinking about suicide, or you're worried about a young person who might be, HopeLine 24/7 is there for confidential advice and support. Call 0300 102 2470, or text HOPE to 88247.