Carling announces new partnership with mental health charity CALM

Carling, leading beer brand from Molson Coors, has joined forces with mental health charity Campaign Against Living Miserably (CALM).  

The three-year partnership will see Carling helping the suicide prevention charity to reach more men in the most at-risk age groups.

Suicide is the single biggest killer of men under 45 in the UK, and the cause of 18 deaths every day.

“This is a national issue, and as the number one lager brand in the UK, Carling has a huge male audience in every area of the country, including men in age groups known to be at particularly high risk of suicide,” commented Phil Whitehead, managing director at Molson Coors Beverage Company.

“By working together, we can help CALM to reach more of the people who may need their support.”

Carling is launching a social media campaign, Caring, designed to open conversations, encourage people to look out for each other and be there when they can’t be there.

The campaign will aim to help normalise what to some people might feel like tricky conversations about mental health and spread awareness of CALM’s support services.

“CALM has always been present in places that you might not expect us to be. That’s because mental wellbeing doesn’t exist in a vacuum,” said Simon Gunning, chief executive of the charitry.

“By being in those areas where mental health issues often go unrecognised or ignored, we open up the conversation to everyone, we move it forward, tackle taboos and, crucially, stop people from reaching crisis point. Our long term three-year partnership with Carling allows us to do just that.”

Carling hopes to help CALM expand its helpline offering, including a new social-first approach, over time. The helplines – manned by professionally trained staff– are a source of inspiration and advice for everyday struggles as well as new, unique challenges being faced.

The brand said the partnership is particularly timely in light of the current lockdown, as CALM has seen a record number of people needing its services since the COVID-19 pandemic emerged.

“We know that there may be some people who will raise their eyebrows at a brewer working with a mental health charity, and we don’t shy away from the fact that at its worst, alcohol can be part of the problem,” Whitehead said.

“Alcohol is never an answer to any mental health difficulties in any way, but people all over the world enjoy drinking responsibly and those normal cultural occasions can be a great opportunity for important conversations. For us this is exactly why this partnership is so important.”