This World Suicide Prevention Day, Welcome Break is proud to announce that from 1 January 2027, the Welcome Break Charitable Fund will partner with Inspire in Northern Ireland and Campaign Against Living Miserably (CALM) across Great Britain.
The partnerships will see Welcome Break work with both organisations to raise awareness, support fundraising and help make mental health and suicide prevention support more visible across its network of motorway service areas and hotels.
Established in 2023, Welcome Break’s Charitable Fund has one goal: to give back to the communities in which Welcome Break operates. This is done through charity partnerships, community grants, volunteering and fundraising initiatives. For every £1 raised, 65p goes directly to charity partners, 30p supports the Community Grant Fund and 5p supports the National Emergencies Trust.
Nicola Marshall, People Director and Chair of the Welcome Break Charitable Fund at Welcome Break, said:
“Today is World Suicide Prevention Day, a day that encourages open conversations about something that can still be incredibly difficult to talk about. Our service areas and hotels give us a unique opportunity to reach people on their journeys. Whether that’s an HGV driver taking a break, a family travelling across the country or someone simply stopping at one of our sites, we want people to know that help is available and that they are not alone.
“We chose CALM and Inspire as our new charity partners because both organisations share our commitment to supporting people and communities when they need it most. We’re looking forward to working with them to turn our commitment into meaningful action.”
Inspire is a charity and social enterprise whose aim is wellbeing for all. Inspire works alongside people living with mental ill health, intellectual disability, autism and addictions, helping them to live with dignity and realise their full potential.
Its mental health and addiction services provide recovery based support in communities, including counselling, advocacy, supported housing and day support, while its campaigns seek to challenge stigma and discrimination.
Kerry Anthony, CEO of Inspire, said:
“We are incredibly proud to be partnering with Welcome Break, an organisation that understands the important role businesses can play in supporting the wellbeing of the communities they serve in. Through this partnership, Welcome Break is making a proactive investment in local people, helping to fund our essential community mental health and wellbeing services that provide life-changing support across Northern Ireland.
“Together, we will raise awareness of mental health, challenge stigma and ensure that more people can access help at the right time and in the right place. This is a partnership built on shared values and a shared commitment to creating meaningful, lasting change for individuals, families and communities.“
CALM is a suicide prevention charity whose mission is to help people end their misery, not their lives. It supports anyone struggling with life and provides people with the skills to help prevent suicide. Its free, anonymous helpline is open from 5pm to midnight every day, alongside practical resources and campaigns that raise awareness, challenge stereotypes and change the culture around mental health and suicide.
CALM estimates that one in four people will experience suicidal thoughts in their lifetime, and someone in the UK dies by suicide every 90 minutes. CALM exists to change this.
CALM CEO Simon Gunning said:
“We are proud to partner with Welcome Break over the next three years to bring life-saving support directly to where life actually happens. To reach people before they hit crisis point, we have to do things differently.
“Working with Welcome Break gives us the opportunity to meet millions of people right in the middle of their everyday journeys – providing real, practical tools when things feel too heavy. Together, we’re making suicide prevention a normal, life-affirming part of daily life.”
As Welcome Break looks ahead to 2027, the new partnerships represent an exciting opportunity to build on the success of the Charitable Fund and extend its positive impact. By working with Inspire and CALM, Welcome Break aims to raise awareness, support essential services and help more people access support when and where they need it.
Welcome Break will continue to work with its existing charity partners — Macmillan Cancer Support (Great Britain) and Friends of the Cancer Centre (Northern Ireland) and fundraise for both charities until 31 December 2026. To date, Welcome Break has raised more than £1 million across both organisations, a testament to the generosity and dedication of colleagues and customers.
To learn more about the Welcome Break Charitable Fund, visit: welcomebreak.co.uk/welcome-break-charitable-fund/