Kate, the Duchess of Cambridge, patron of the charity Place2Be, has helped to make this year’s Children’s Mental Health Awareness Week the most successful one to date. Place2Be, which founded the weeklong campaign in 2015, reported this week that they have seen record numbers of children and parents take an interest in the week and a 700% increase in traffic to the campaign website compared to the same week in 2020.
Kate kicked off the campaign on Monday with a video message about the importance of positive mental health particularly during the pandemic. In the video, which Kate filmed while out on a jog in the Norfolk countryside, the royal encouraged children and parents to find ways to share their thoughts and feelings, saying it is particularly important during this challenging time. The Duchess also highlighted the crucial need for parents and carers to look after their own mental wellbeing, and the impact that this has on the children in their care.
The video has been watched by over 3.5 million people, and the Duchess has been praised by commentators for her relaxed and informal tone.
“The support of our Royal Patron, HRH The Duchess of Cambridge, has an enormously positive impact,” Catherine Roche, Chief Executive of Place2Be, told Vanity Fair. “We know that over 3.5 million people have watched her message of support marking the start of the week. By shining a huge spotlight on this important issue, The Duchess is helping us to normalise conversations about our own mental health and wellbeing and that of our children. While we’ve made great progress in reducing stigma in recent years, there is still some way to go when it comes to improving understanding around children’s mental health. We are incredibly grateful to our Patron for her support.”
Although she is homeschooling Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis, Kate has been busy speaking to parents and teachers to find out how they are coping during the pandemic. This week she hosted a video call in which she spoke one-on-one with teachers from Ribbon Academy in County Durham about the support they have been offering to parents and children.
Dressed in a blue jacket, Kate—now a pro at Zoom—turned interviewer and fired some quick fire questions for Head Teacher Ashleigh Sheridan and teachers Hannah Rispin and Louise Tweedie about how children have been faring during the pandemic.Ribbon Academy and Place2Be, a charity which provides mental health support in schools, have been working in partnership since 2002 to provide teachers and school staff with the tools they need to support children and parents’ mental health, as well as their own.
Earlier this week children at Ribbon Academy took part in a Place2Be Children’s Mental Health Week activity to express themselves through art, and drawings from the school were showcased on Kensington Palace’s social channels.
The Duchess also spoke to Chris Reay, a High Level Teaching and Learning Partner, who attended Place2Be sessions as a child after a traumatic life event, and is now working at the school as an adult. Kate told Reay, “You play such a vital role in looking after our children. It’s so important that you’re looked after too and have the appropriate networks and support systems to make sure you can really do the best job you possibly can. I’m really glad that Place2Be is there [for you]. They’re needed across the country more now than ever. I wanted to say a massive thank you to teachers across the country for doing fantastic jobs. It’s been really hard work but please look after yourselves.”
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