Wellbeing and Mental Health

The British royals have launched a mental health text service

Britain's Prince William and Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, visit Caernarfon coastguard search and rescue helicopter base in Caernarfon, Wales, Britain May 8, 2019. REUTERS/Phil Noble/Pool - RC184059C1C0

The service, called “Shout”, aims to provide 24/7 support for people suffering from crises. Image: REUTERS/Phil Noble/Pool

Michael Holden
Reporter , Reuters

Britain’s young royals, brothers Prince William and Prince Harry and their wives Kate and Meghan, have launched a new phone messaging service to help people suffering a mental health crisis.

The two princes have been widely praised for speaking out about their own struggles with mental health struggles in the wake of the death of their mother Princess Diana in a 1997 car crash and have made the issue one of their main charitable causes.

The new text messaging service, called “Shout”, aims to provide 24/7 support for people suffering from crises such as suicidal thoughts, abuse, relationship problems and bullying by connecting them to trained volunteers and helping them find longer-term support.

“We are incredibly excited to be launching this service, knowing it has the potential to reach thousands of vulnerable people every day,” the four royals said in a statement.

“We have all been able to see the service working up close and are so excited for its future. We hope that many more of you will join us and be part of something very special.”

The service is particularly aimed at younger people and using text messaging means it is silent and private, allowing people to use it at school, on a bus or at home, the organisers said. A 2017 report estimated that one in eight five to 19-year-olds in Britain had at least one mental health disorder.

Image: NHS Digital

As part of the launch, William appears in a video appealing for people to come forward as the service seeks to expand from 1,000 to 4,000 volunteers.

The initiative is one of the first to involve the quartet of royals who are joint patrons of the Royal Foundation, their primary vehicle for helping charities and good causes and which is supporting the Shout scheme.

It comes after the British media has been rife with speculation of a rift between the brothers and their wives, although there has been no public indication of any disagreements.

On Monday, May 6, Meghan, 37, and 34-year-old Harry celebrated the birth of their first child Archie, with William, 36, and Kate, 37, saying they were absolutely thrilled at the news.

Loading...
Don't miss any update on this topic

Create a free account and access your personalized content collection with our latest publications and analyses.

Sign up for free

License and Republishing

World Economic Forum articles may be republished in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International Public License, and in accordance with our Terms of Use.

The views expressed in this article are those of the author alone and not the World Economic Forum.

Stay up to date:

Social Protection

Related topics:
Wellbeing and Mental HealthSocial Innovation
Share:
The Big Picture
Explore and monitor how Social Protection is affecting economies, industries and global issues
A hand holding a looking glass by a lake
Crowdsource Innovation
Get involved with our crowdsourced digital platform to deliver impact at scale
World Economic Forum logo
Global Agenda

The Agenda Weekly

A weekly update of the most important issues driving the global agenda

Subscribe today

You can unsubscribe at any time using the link in our emails. For more details, review our privacy policy.

2:38

Australia has banned social media for under-16s. What are the pros and cons of the ban?

Japan is leveraging digital solutions to tackle dementia

About us

Engage with us

  • Sign in
  • Partner with us
  • Become a member
  • Sign up for our press releases
  • Subscribe to our newsletters
  • Contact us

Quick links

Language editions

Privacy Policy & Terms of Service

Sitemap

© 2024 World Economic Forum