Duchess Kate Thanks Mental Health Volunteers In First Solo Visit
This Wednesday Kate Middleton, the Duchess of Cambridge, made a visit to mental health text line Shout to mark a special milestone, as the service had just reached over one million conversations with those in need.
During her visit, Kate met and talked with clinical supervisors, volunteers and fundraisers, thanking all of them for doing this invaluable work, of providing mental health support to anyone in the UK 24/7. Anyone can text SHOUT for free, at any time, and be provided with confidential and quality mental health support.
There the Duchess also had a live demonstration of the platform before joining volunteers in a round-table discussion of their experiences and how they gained new skills for the work they are doing.
The number of people using the platform had jumped 140 per cent since the start of the pandemic, with one of the volunteers revealing how there is a growing need for volunteers in these rough times.
Kate also met with those carrying out fundraising efforts for Shout, 13-year-old Leo Street being one of them, as he managed to raise over £8,000 by sleeping outside for the entirety of 2021.
Shout is the UK’s only 24/7 text messaging support service, which offers free and confidential help for anyone who is having to go through a turbulent period or is simply not in the best place mentally. It began back in May 2019, and since then has taken over 1,000,000 conversations with people who are anxious, stressed, depressed, suicidal or overwhelmed and in need of immediate support.
The service was researched and developed with the help of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’s Royal Foundation as a legacy of the Heads Together campaign. With it finally being set up and began working in May 2019, the Royal Foundation gave it an initial £2m grant to help with its development and growth.
For this outing, the Duchess debuted a green leopard print shirt dress by Derek Lam 10 Crosby, which you can get for 159 pounds at The Outnet, combining it with black heeled boots and a waist-cinching belt.