Faith in human life’s inherent value is waning around the world. For now, though, it at least persists on Chesterfield railway station’s second platform, where various iterations of a huge advertisement in favour of life have hung there for as long as I have been catching the train south to London.
The billboard pleads with anyone considering taking their life to stop, to call 116 123, and to talk. For someone standing there in the shadow of depression, this sign for the Samaritans may be what saves their life; it may be enough to stop them from stepping off the platform.
