With the announcement of the 2025 Baton of Hope UK Tour, the suicide awareness and prevention charity have scheduled a second screening of their documentary, Raising the Baton: A Manifesto for Hope.
The screening will take place at the Millennium Gallery, Sheffield, and is open to the general public. The film documents the journey of the charity, from it’s inception to it’s greatly successful UK tours and awareness campaigns. The Baton of Hope was set up by two dads, Mike McCarthy and Steve Phillip, who lost their sons to suicide. Since then, the Baton of Hope and Thomas Lyte have collaborated to design and manufacture the Baton, which has passed through the hands of over 1000 Baton Bearers on it’s journey to nationwide suicide awareness.
The Baton of Hope was made in our purpose-built, London-based silverware workshop and donated to Mike McCarthy in 2023. The sheer number of preventable suicides in UK surprised us all at Thomas Lyte. Impassioned by this, our CEO and founder, Kevin Baker, met with Mike McCarthy to express Thomas Lyte’s wholehearted support from all employees across our gold and silversmithing company.
The Baton stands at an impressive 735mm in height. The expert craftsmanship has ensured the Baton is lightweight, weighing just 3.24kg, allowing for easy transfer between both hands and cities. These physical attributes have enabled the Baton to become one of the biggest suicide prevention initiatives the UK has ever seen.
The documentary tells the full story of the Baton of Hope, with footage from around the UK, as the Baton is passed from well known sportspeople to local heroes. After the screening in Sheffield, individuals from The Baton of Hope UK including Co-Founder, Mike McCarthy, will lead a Q&A panel session. Tickets to the event are available here.
The UK has never seen a suicide awareness and prevention initiative like this. The approach is total inclusivity, with opportunities for all peoples and organisations to get involved.
Following the huge success of the first tour in 2023, the Baton of Hope is working with teams across the UK for a bigger event in 2025. If you’d like to get involved, you can register your interest via the Baton of Hope website:
Read about our press mentions and awards for the project
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