Meet the movement against suicide: The dancers helping stop suicide

It can feel like dancing isn't for you, but science shows that getting down on the dancefloor can actually be a great way to look after your head. Someone who knows this better than anyone is Tim who teaches Ceroc, a dance class that’s raised over £16,800 for our services, doing great things for the community and for CALM.

Ceroc classes cover loads of different dance styles and the easy to follow sessions mean dancers at any level can join. The international movement is huge and people who’ve never danced before can leave class a confident dancer. But there’s much more to Ceroc than dancing. These guys even got a shoutout from the queen of dance and our ambassador, Shirley Ballas:

Tim’s been teaching Ceroc for 18 years and has seen the difference it can make to people’s heads. He says that community is at the heart of what they do and admits that usually everyone ends up in the local pub after a class. Ceroc isn’t just keeping people fit, it’s combating loneliness and helping people connect.

“Maybe you feel nervous about social scenarios, you’re not sure what to say, or feel more introverted in a group, but immediately you can find common ground and discuss what you learned in the class.”

After choosing CALM as their charity of the year, Tim’s seen difficult conversations open up in his classes. Fellow Ceroc heads are finding it easier to talk about stuff they’ve struggled with, a positive thing to come out of fundraising for our life-saving services. Tim explains:

“CALM’s unapologetic in raising issues - the taboo of suicide, not having a good day, and all of those things that can make some people's shoulders scrunch up. It's been good for our community to feel able to say ‘some of us feel shit”

This lot don’t take themselves too seriously, they’re there to do something they love, meet new faces and have a laugh along the way. People join for all sorts of reasons, but Tim hopes that it’s community safe space, where people can come to let their hair down for an hour or two with their mates:

“Some people want to escape stuff for a while. For that moment on the dance floor, they have a moment of freedom from stress and it can be the thing that gives them resilience to continue forwards.”

This passionate community aren’t just passionate about dancing, they’re passionate about supporting charities like ours.

“The work suicide prevention and mental health charities do is crucial. When people get themselves in a downward spiral the feeling of ending things can be all consuming. The work charities like CALM do gives people another path out of that feeling and the tools to change direction.”

To support us in supporting others, the Ceroc crew have been pulling out all the stops, raising over £16,800 for our services. That’s enough to answer 2,100 potentially life-saving helpline calls and chats.

“Initially we had charity buckets at our venues and some of our organisers did charity events, but it’s really taken off since then. Some of our dancers did the Lost Hours Walk, one of our teachers is doing a half marathon, we had a big dance competition and we’re running a teacher auction where people can win a private lesson. I find it really exciting that what started as shaking tins, has blossomed into people being really creative with how we can use dance as a medium to raise money.”

Inspired to get involved? Find your local Ceroc class and see what dancing can do for your head.

You can literally do anything against living miserably. If you’d like to take on a challenge, head to our fundraising page to get inspired. And if you need support, our website is full of useful stuff for your head, or our helpline and webchat is open every day from 5pm until midnight.