For people in crisis, every conversation matters. When someone reaches out for help, they deserve to be met with empathy, understanding, and immediate support. This belief lies at the heart of our partnership with CALM (Campaign Against Living Miserably) – a collaboration that is redefining how crisis support is delivered across the UK.
Meeting a growing need
For three decades, CALM has been one of the UK’s most prominent voices in suicide prevention. They offer vital support to people experiencing suicidal thoughts, grieving a loss, or concerned about the safety of others. Open every day from 5pm to midnight, 365 days a year, the CALM helpline provides a non-prescriptive service to offer empathetic, non-judgmental emotional support while effectively assessing risk.
In 2024 alone, CALM received over 190,000 contacts to their suicide prevention helpline. It is a stark reminder of the growing need for mental health support across England.
However, meeting this demand required more than simply adding capacity. It demanded a fundamental transformation of CALM’s helpline infrastructure to ensure they can continue delivering support at scale while preserving the vital human connection that defines their crisis support.
Why CALM partnered with Maximus
Recognising the growing and evolving public health need, CALM entrusted Maximus with leading this critical service redesign in 2023. For five decades, Maximus has partnered with government, local authorities, and businesses to transform service delivery across the UK through innovative, human-centred design.
This proven track record in digital transformation and customer experience design ensured Maximus was uniquely positioned to modernise CALM’s helpline infrastructure without compromising the person-centred approach that vulnerable people depend on.
The brief was clear: implement a fully integrated contact centre solution that would seamlessly bring telephone, webchat, and WhatsApp channels into a single system, while simultaneously building a sustainable model for workforce wellbeing.
Redefining partnership in crisis support
Delivering on this brief required more than technical capability. It demanded a fundamentally different approach to outsourcing – one that challenged traditional models which often prioritise technology-driven efficiency and cost reduction at the expense of care and compassion.
CALM and Maximus took a different approach, designing a service that placed equal weight on operational excellence and the wellbeing of those delivering support.
The partnership combined CALM’s specialist expertise in suicide prevention with Maximus’ experience in service transformation and customer experience. This was not a conventional client-supplier relationship, but rather a strategic collaboration grounded in shared purpose, mutual respect, and accountability.
As Wendy Robinson, Director of Services at CALM, explains: “In working with Maximus, we have a true partner who shares our mission. CALM’s work in supporting anyone reaching out for help, worried about someone or living with bereavement through suicide is equally challenging and motivating. Having a supplier-partner that brings expertise, insight and innovation to the table is so important to our reach and positive human impact.
“We needed a partner who could deliver the latest technology, but more importantly, one who understood that the human touch is non-negotiable. At CALM, our absolute priority is the people in life-threatening danger when they call us. Technology is powerful – but knowing people are alive today because of our helpline, that’s what truly matters.”
Together our teams worked closely with frontline advisors to co-design every element of the new model. Identifying real-world challenges to shape practical, service user-focused solutions.
Three key priorities quickly emerged: enhancing training and support for frontline advisors, improving access and responsiveness across communication channels, and using data to enable informed, proactive decision-making. Underpinning all three was a fundamental belief: you cannot provide life-saving support without first supporting those who deliver it.
Supporting the workforce, strengthening the service
To ensure advisors could continue delivering exceptional care, Maximus introduced a comprehensive wellbeing framework for more than 50 professionals managing critical conversations. This framework encompassed scenario-based onboarding, live shift support, structured mentoring, clinical supervision, and regular check-ins.
What began as informal peer support has evolved into a permanent, structured programme designed to ensure consistent, empathetic care for individuals in crisis.
Delivering measurable impact
The impact has been profound. Before the redesign, only half of incoming contacts were answered. Now, response rates across channels consistently exceed 85%, and wait times have dropped from 12 minutes to under one minute. It is a crucial improvement when every second counts.
Real-time dashboards now provide full visibility of key metrics, empowering CALM and Maximus to respond dynamically to changing demand.
Advisor confidence and emotional resilience have also improved significantly, with engagement increasing from 48% to 68% and our culture score improving from 58% to 72%.
A sustainable model for the future
This partnership demonstrates what’s possible when innovation and empathy work hand in hand. By combining Maximus’ expertise in service transformation with CALM’s deep understanding of suicide prevention, we’ve created a model that balances scalability with compassion – a blueprint for sustainable crisis services in the future.
In a service often driven by cost-efficiency alone, Maximus is proving that technology and care can coexist. Delivering operational excellence without compromising on human connection.
Together with CALM, we’re showing how a collaborative, values-led partnerships can build resilient, data-informed and compassionate services that truly change lives.
