The group of friends who shared their story of the loss of two members this week has been flooded with support and help. With their recently established foundation, they organized their first activity on Saturday with a memorable bike ride. The counter of donations is already moving towards 80,000 euros. “This exceeds all our expectations.”
The friends platoon of the foundation left Saturday with dozens of cyclists from café de Keyzer in Leiden. From there they set course for the Kopje in Bloemendaal, the favorite destination of one of the deceased friends, and then turn back to the Keyzer. There they were received by friends, family and other acquaintances for an emotional commemoration and the launch of the foundation.
“A beautiful, but also confrontational day”, says chairman Tim Zuidberg (29). “Because there were so many people. That I thought: how sad is it that this is the reason for that. But we have had a lot of sweet reactions. A lot of support about what we are doing and how much attention it has already received.”
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Earlier this week, Tim shared the sad story of the group of friends. In 2016 their friend Ian saw no way out, last October friend Martin ended his life. Tim then decided to take action together with other friends: they founded the Foundation We see each other on. Since him told his story on LinkedIn and various media reported about it, there was suddenly a storm in donations.
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The foundation hoped to start with 10,000 euros, but now shoot up the amount. “It is indeed far above our expectations, but that is only good”, says Tim. “The subject of suicide is extremely important and deserves a lot of attention.” With the foundation they want to make mental health among young people more discussable.
Flooded with support
Tim’s message on social media could count on thousands of reactions and even after other media attention, they are now flooded with statements of support and offers of help. It was therefore an ‘intense and eventful’ week for the boys behind the foundation. “It is a cliché, but it has really been a rollercoaster. We wanted to make it a great week for Martin and Ian, but it all happened very quickly.”
On Friday, CBS also released new figures on suicide. It showed that suicide is the most common cause of death among young people under the age of 30. In 2022, 1916 people took their own lives, an average of about five suicides per day. More than twice as many men (1315) as women (601) committed suicide in 2022.
It’s not strange if you have a conversation with psychological help. It’s not weird at all to talk about how you feel
The foundation We see each other hopes to be able to do something about this. “We want to offer low-threshold psychological help to, for example, sports and student associations,” Tim explains. “So that the people who need it in society are more visible. That it is not strange that you once have a conversation with such a person. That it is not strange at all to talk about how you feel.”
Step back
They now have almost 80,000 euros as a starting amount. After the eventful week, Tim hopes to take a step back with the foundation. “It is good to reflect on what has happened to all of us. We don’t know where all the money is going yet, but we’re going to take our time for that. Also for all the reactions and messages we have received, including from professionals who can guide us. That in combination with our own motivation to do this very well, I think we can make this a very big success.”
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