#katemh

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The Duchess of Cambridge’s Mental Health Work → 13th November 2019

Kate made an unannounced visit to The Brink, a Liverpool based alcohol free bar, restaurant and entertainment centre targeted towards creating a positive, alcohol free environment for recovering addicts. The bar is run by Action on Addiction, one of the Duchess’s first patronages which she has supported since 2012. She had previously visited the organisation on Valentine’s Day that year where she was serenaded by a choir made up of recovering addicts and received a dry smoothie named The Duchess in her honour. Although this visit was private, a month later it was revealed that the Duchess had been visiting The Brink with legendary cooking expert Mary Berry for their festive TV show A Berry Royal Christmas. 

[duchessofostergotlands]

The Duchess of Cambridge’s Mental Health Work → 11th December 2019


Before going on maternity leave in 2018, the Duchess had announced she was in the early stages of developing a major project as part of her work promoting the social and emotional health of our youngest citizens. At a symposium she had convened on perinatal and maternal mental health she confirmed she was gathering a Steering Group of experts from across academia and health care who would help her create a strategy for a major project improving early intervention. Since returning from maternity leave she has hosted many meetings- this was her fifth in less than 4 months- suggesting the project was ramping up towards its launch. Although details and photographs weren’t released from any of these events, it is thought that Kate received an update about the progress of the project and heard from her panel of experts. It is expected the early years project will form the centrepiece of Kate’s work in 2020.

[duchessofostergotlands]

The Duchess of Cambridge’s Mental Health Work → 4th December 2019

As a busy 2019 drew to a close for the Duchess, she surprised reporters and royal watchers alike by taking on a new patronage. Kate made an appearance at a farm in rural Buckinghamshire to accompany the announcement that she was taking over as patron of Family Action from the Queen, who was herself passed the role by Queen Mary in 1953. The charity was founded in 1869 to support disadvantaged families. The Duchess has a long connection with the organisation; she visited earlier that year and in 2017, and appointed CEO David Holmes to the steering group of her upcoming Early Years project. The engagement itself was a fun family event with service users of Family Action where Kate and a group of excited children picked out a Christmas tree, made food for Santa’s reindeers, and took part in Christmas crafts. But in amongst the fun, the Duchess took a moment to speak with mothers who have used the charity’s services to support their mental health. The patronage is a natural step in Kate’s work as a royal. The charity itself has increasingly focused on mental health support for families with young children, something which has been at the core of Kate’s engagements since early 2012. CEO Holmes said of the appointment, “I have seen The Duchess’s passionate support for disadvantaged families first hand and have been impressed by her leadership in understanding and promoting the vital importance of the Early Years.”

[duchessofostergotlands]

The Duchess of Cambridge’s Mental Health Work → 5th November 2019


Before going on maternity leave in 2018, the Duchess had announced she was in the early stages of developing a major project as part of her work promoting the social and emotional health of our youngest citizens. At a symposium she had convened on perinatal and maternal mental health she confirmed she was gathering a Steering Group of experts from across academia and health care who would help her create a strategy for a major project improving early intervention. Since returning from maternity leave she has hosted many meetings including two in September and two in November. Although details and photographs weren’t released from any of these events, it is thought that Kate received an update about the progress of the project and heard from her panel of experts. It is expected the early years project will form the centrepiece of Kate’s work in 2020.

[duchessofostergotlands]

The Duchess of Cambridge’s Mental Health Work → 12th March 2019

Since announcing that she was forming a steering group to research Early Years wellbeing, the Duchess of Cambridge has made trips to a number of services supporting our youngest citizens to learn more about work on the ground. In March she visited the Henry Fawcett Children’s Centre in London to find out more about the Lambeth Early Action Partnership (LEAP) and their Parent and Infant Relationship Service (PAIRS) which aims to build the relationship between parents/caregivers and children. Kate was welcomed with a briefing on the state of children’s services before joining two of their activities: Circle of Security which helps parents understand their child’s emotions and enhance the child’s sense of self esteem and Together Time, an infant led activity to support bonding between parent and child. The parents and experts she met reported the Duchess showed a particular interest in this idea- known as attachment- which has been amongst her primary focuses for many years. Kate happily got down on the ground to play with babies and toddlers and spoke openly with parents about the shared challenges of raising a child. Finesse, mother of twin girls who played with the Duchess, spoke with Kate about her feelings of isolation after giving birth and said “she was just lovely, really down to earth. I never though she would come down and sit with us but she did.” 

[duchessofostergotlands]

The Duchess of Cambridge’s Mental Health Work → 12th November 2019

In May, the Dukes and Duchesses of Cambridge and Sussex launched a new project, Shout, which provides a 24/7 text service for people in crisis modelled on US charity Crisis text Line. The organisation operates under the umbrella of Mental Health Innovations, a digital mental health charity launched by the royals and funded by the Royal Foundation. The Duchess has strong links to Mental Health Innovations, with board members including Royal Foundation trustee Charles Mindenhall and Peter Fonagy, CEO of her patronage the Anna Freud Centre and a member of her Early Years steering group. Six months later, William and Kate attended a celebration which brought together some of the 3000 people who have volunteered for the service since its launch to thank them for their around the clock support. The couple met with some of these volunteers as well as staff and supporters of the Shout service. They also met with Ian Russell, father of 14 year old Molly Russell who died by suicide after seeing images of self harm on social media. Ian has become a campaigner for more accountability for social media platforms and has been in contact with the royals before, receiving a personal letter from the Duke of Cambridge. He said of the couple, “support from all ends helps, support from the Royal Family perhaps particularly helps.” Following these meetings, they watched a presentation recapping the year’s achievements and ended the day with speech where William said, “Catherine and I, and Harry and Meghan couldn’t be more proud of what Shout has accomplished… We’re hugely proud and hugely grateful to all of you for being part of this.”

[duchessofostergotlands]

The Duchess of Cambridge’s Mental Health Work → 9th October 2019

The Fab Four reunited to lend their support to Every Mind Matters, a new campaign from Public Health England and the NHS to raise awareness of early symptoms of mental ill health. Recognising that the NHS is increasingly strained, the campaign’s website also provides resources which encourage self care before problems spiral. The Dukes and Duchesses of Cambridge and Sussex each recorded part of a voice over for a film launching the campaign, written by iconic director Richard Curtis and directed by Rankin. The Duchess spoke last, introducing the practical resources on the website by stating "It'll get you started with a free online plan designed to help you deal with stress, boost your mood, improve your sleep and feel more in control." The short film was broadcast simultaneously across several major television channels to over 10 million viewers and the royals showed that they still have star power as the campaign website crashed shortly after the clip was aired. Claire Murdoch, national mental health director of NHS England, spoke of the significance of the campaign: “(it) absolutely signals a sea of change in awareness and attitudes to mental health.”

[duchessofostergotlands]

The Duchess of Cambridge’s Mental Health Work → 16th December 2019

Kate had made an unannounced visit to The Brink, a Liverpool based alcohol free bar, restaurant and entertainment centre targeted towards creating a positive, alcohol free environment for recovering addicts in November. A month later, it became clear why she had made this visit when it featured in a festive TV show, A Berry Royal Christmas, which the Duke and Duchess filmed alongside cooking icon Mary Berry. The documentary centred around a Christmas party hosted by the royal couple for volunteers of various charities. Amongst those invited were representatives of several mental health initiatives including Kate’s patronage Action on Addiction and the royals’ crisis text line Shout. Before some competitive roulade making, the Duchess took Mary Berry to visit The Brink, run by Action on Addiction. The Duchess had previously visited the bar on Valentine’s Day in 2012. Kate and Mary spoke with some of the charity’s service users about their journey to sobriety and the Duchess shared more about her goal for her work in this area, stating that her work is “trying to break that cycle for (children) in their later life.” National treasure Mary was full of praise following the visit, saying of the couple “they don’t just arrive and shake a few hands make a few smiles and a speech, they want to get involved, and they want to see what they can do. And it isn’t just one visit, they come back again and ask for the results and they remember who they spoke to last time.”