Consultancy helps charity break silence on male suicide

Brand and transformation agency Q Branch Consulting is helping prevent male suicide by joining forces with a lifesaving charity.

Steve Whittle, founder of male suicide prevention charity Tough to Talk, said Q Branch’s transformative work has helped save more men’s lives through clear visuals, strategy, and messaging along with powerful branding designed to help men open up about their feelings and encourage others to listen.

The charity helps prevent male suicide by working with organisations such as Thames Valley Police, delivering workplace-based ‘tough talks’ designed to break stigmas that stop men talking – and in doing so, save them before they are pushed beyond the brink.

Steve said Tough to Talk had successfully expanded its reach and delivered its work in many more organisations thanks to support from Q Branch Consulting, which was founded earlier this year by life and business partners Jenny Jarvis and Matt Clutterham.

Matt, an award-winning former lighting designer turned branding consultant, who has been trained and mentored by some of the leading names in the field, has joined the charity as a trustee.

Q Branch has created a new strategy and powerful website featuring a range of information, including where to get help; blogs covering painful topics such as the effect of suicide on loved ones, and a highly valuable section outlining suicide warning signs such as social withdrawal; giving away possessions; taking more risks than usual, and developing poor selfcare.

Steve, himself a survivor of three attempts to take his own life, said: “Q Branch has been instrumental in helping Tough to Talk by helping us realise our passion, our mission and our message: break the silence.

“Their help has helped us launch a new website and I’m confident that if our messaging had not been perfected by Jenny and Matt, we wouldn’t have cut through the noise and reached the organisations we have.

“Every organisation needs great branding and great messaging, and Q Branch is helping us literally save lives through their work.”

Matt, who has experienced his own personal journey through a breakdown and depression, said: “Male suicide is a big elephant in the room in today’s society in that not enough people are talking about it – yet 75% of all suicides in the UK are male.

“Our approach as a business is about bringing out the best in human beings and helping them to be bold in today’s society.

“I want to use my skills to help men express their vulnerability and live happier lives.

“There are sound business principles around reaching out to men and helping them to talk, too.

“Through working with HR departments, we can prove that working on men’s mental health will dramatically improve productivity by significantly enhancing morale.”