The OLLIE Foundation has won a public vote to be given a home on the new St Albans Monopoly board.
Sandwiched between the green properties, the OLLIE community chest square sits with its recognisable orange and black logo among the most expensive properties on the board.
One of OLLIE’s founders Stuart Falconer said that he did not expect to win.
He said: “They [Hasbro] put it out to the whole public and said, which charities would you want to see on the Monopoly board, and luckily we won.”
OLLIE stands for ‘One Life Lost Is Enough’ and was created nine years ago by three St Albans parents who lost their children to suicide – Morgan aged 15, Chris aged 19 and TJ aged 16.
They have since raised over one million pounds to go towards their work in raising awareness of suicide and teaching people how to better help young people in crisis.
Stuart told St Albans News: “Clearly the most significant and impactful moment in my life was Morgan’s death – it throws your mind into a world that you never knew existed.
“Morgan was the sweetest boy you could ever hope to have. But if you asked me, why did he die, I couldn’t tell you – I could guess and tell you that it was a consequence of everything.”
Stuart advocates for a better awareness of oneself.
He said: “When you meet people, you are not going to tell them you are a miserable wreck, who has no value for life. Everyone says how are you and you say I am fine – I am good because they don’t know how to express their emotions and that’s what I am trying to encourage people to do.”
OLLIE wants to open the conversation about suicide and believes people should not be fearful but be bolder to ask people how they are feeling.
“Why would you be fearful about having a conversation with someone – if someone says I don’t want to talk about it – you have to respect it – but you have to give people the opportunity to say no”, Stuart said.
The OLLIE Foundation wants to empower people and parents who may feel powerless to the complexities of mental health.
Stuart said: “At the end of the day it’s about raising awareness, it’s about teaching people that it doesn’t have to be that way – if you are suicidal now, it does not mean you have to be suicidal tomorrow.”
“People need to realise that they can change – you can change the way you think about things”
“If you don’t believe that you can do anything about it then nothing will change.”
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