Tuesday 17 May 2016

Heads Together makes headlines


The Duchess of Cambridge does boxing - what's not to like?
(photo Kensington Royal Instagram)

When the Duchess of Cambridge dons a pair of boxing gloves and settles down for a bit of cut and thrust at the home of sport in London then it's likely someone will notice. They did. As Kate did boxercise at the launch of Heads Together, the cameras clicked and the flashes, well, flashed, and the royal did what she'd hope she'd do - she got everyone looking at and talking about a new campaign on mental health issues. Getting Heads Together into the headlines is a knockout blow for the duchess.




One of the front pages featuring the boxing duchess on May 17th 2016

Kate is on the front of several major newspapers this morning and inside plenty of others as she, William and Harry headed to the Olympic Stadium for the official launch of their mental health initiative. Heads Together was announced last month but this was the all singing, all boxing spectacular start and it delivered big time.




The centre point of the event was a speech by all three royals in a very modern setting, Looking more like the candidates in a presidential debate, Prince Harry, the Duchess of Cambridge and the Duke of Cambridge stepped up to the podiums to deliver a three pronged message about changing attitudes towards mental health so that stigmas are removed and more people get the support they need to lead the lives they want.



The Duke of Cambridge said that 'time and again...unresolved mental health issues lie at the heart of some of our greatest social challenges' while the Duchess of Cambridge underlined the message of the campaign, telling the audience that ''Heads Together wants to help everyone feel much more comfortable with their everyday mental wellbeing'.





The initiative brings together a range of mental health charities and organisations who will work towards changing attitudes, promoting issues and providing support. It will have a high profile in the coming months and it is the chosen charity of the 2017 London Marathon (remember the famous headband picture when it was launched?)



Just in case you had forgotten - it's the Cambridges and Harry in headbands

The charities were all there and all showing how they take different approaches to helping and supporting those with mental health issues. That's where the boxing came in as MIND demonstrated the power of sport in helping mental health.
CALM was there to show the power and importance of talking while Contact Armed Forces was focusing on the pressures on serving and former military.  There was also a demonstration of how games like jenga can be used to help mental health problems.




The importance of music was also underlined as the royals joined in to create a playlist by picking their favourite songs, organised by The Mix which helps young people with mental health problems.


We found out what makes the royals happy when they were asked to focus on one thing that brought them joy and write it on a board - William chose George and Charlotte, Kate chose going for a walk while Harry just wants to make everyone smile.



The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have spent a lot of time in recent months building up their campaigns on mental health issues and this initiative will see them working together in the area for a long time to come. It's a big topic that often gets ignored but the three royals have put Heads Together in the headlines for months if not years to come and that can only be a good thing.
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