About Us

To the outside world Charlie Waller had everything to live for, a successful career, good friends and a loving family. In September 1997 Charlie committed suicide at the age of 28. He was suffering from depression and no longer had the strength to cope with life. Shortly after this tragic event his family founded The Charlie Waller Memorial Trust. The aim of the Trust is to increase awareness of the signs and the dangers of Depression and to encourage those who may be depressed to seek help.

Five Hundred people attended Charlie Waller’s funeral. He was neither old, nor a local stalwart such as a publican; he was not a young victim whose senseless murder provoked commentators to talk of “a community in shock”. Nor was he a figure of renown, whose obsequies the great and good felt bound to attend. Charlie Waller was simply a 28 year-old advertising executive from Fulham, unknown beyond his contemporaries. His death had an impact which continues to affect those who knew him.

Charlie’s case is not an isolated one. Each year around 1,760 young men commit suicide and a recent report from the Royal College of Psychiatrists highlighted the impact of stress and work pressures. Since Charlie’s death in 1997, his parents, family and friends have worked through the Trust to increase awareness of the symptoms and dangers of depression and remove the stigma that is attached to mental illness.

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