According to the World Health Organization, more than 450 million people–including 6.7 million Canadians–are struggling with mental illness, making it the leading cause of disability worldwide. More than half of Canadians will have dealt with some form of mental illness by the age of 40, and more than 11 people per day—totaling more than 4,000 people per year–lose their life to suicide.
To help address the issue, the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) in Canada has launched a fundraising campaign to support hospital-based mental health research, starting with a new advertising platform: “No one left behind.”
The campaign–which is running in Ontario–was developed in partnership with Toronto agency Camp Jefferson, yielding this powerful :60 directed by Brent Foster of production company Scouts Honour. In the “No One Left Behind” spot, people come together to form a kind of lighthouse, ultimately shining a beacon to raise awareness of mental illness and the need to address it meaningfully.
Funds raised will go in part toward building the new CAMH Research & Discovery Centre, a state-of-the-art facility that will lead to ground-breaking research to get people the solutions they need.
“We believe now is the time to go further than ever to support those facing mental illness,” said Sarah Chamberlin, CAMH Foundation’s CMO and VP of community giving and engagement. “Our work over the past 25 years has helped to bust stigma, raise awareness and spark conversations about mental health. Now it’s time to go further.”
“We wanted this campaign to call out to those who share the same ambition and attitude of the very people who are fighting daily to uncover new cures for those living with, and affected by, mental illness,” said Camp Jefferson ECD Julie Nikolic. “We feel this embodies CAMH’s unbreakable spirit against the seemingly insurmountable odds they face. It lets people who may be suffering or who have loved ones who are going through difficult times know that CAMH will keep going the distance for them.”
