The Duke of Cambridge, Prince William has recently revealed that during the lockdown due to the coronavirus, he has anonymously been volunteering for a mental health crisis helpline.
The Prince has been secretly volunteering for Shout 85258, a mental health charity that offers support to the mentally distressed people through text messages. Launched in May last year, this is the United Kingdom’s first 24X7 crisis helpline and has about 2,000 volunteers.
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, Prince William and Kate, and the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, Prince Harry and Meghan, had invested 3 million pounds in the charitable organization through their Royal Foundation.
Last month he told fellow volunteers of Shout 85258 in a video call, “I’m going to share a little secret with you guys, but I’m actually on the platform volunteering.”
However, the users of the service would not be aware that they are speaking to a member of the Royal family because all volunteers use a pseudonym – a false name.
William has been trained by the charity to answer text messages from people that might be experiencing depression, anxiety, and panic attacks. Some of the texters could also be suicidal.
It has been revealed that Princess Kate has also been volunteering to check in with those that are in quarantine, self-isolating, or vulnerable during the coronavirus pandemic.
Kensington Palace made this announcement to mark Volunteers Week, which ends on 7th June 2020.
Meanwhile, Shout said that more than 300,000 text conversations had taken place on the service since its launch a little over an year back, with over 65 per cent of the texters aged under 25.
Prince William has always been vocal and passionate to promote the cause of mental health. In 2018, he launched a website called ‘Mental Health at Work‘ as a means to improve mental health in workplaces. Also, in 2019, he spoke openly about the death of his mother, Princess Diana for a BBC documentary on mental health. Earlier in 2020, he narrated a one-minute video to urge and encourage soccer fans to take care of their mental health.
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