Kate Loves: The Heads Together Journey & What's Next for the Campaign?

Over the past eighteen months, William, Kate and Harry's mental health campaign Heads Together has been the largest initiative the trio have jointly undertaken together. Driven by their desire to de-stigmatise mental health and start conversations all over the world it's undoubtedly a cause all three are deeply passionate about. Tonight, we're looking back to where it all began, to the successful 'Mental Health Marathon' and to what comes next.

On a Sunday morning in April 2016, it was revealed the Duke and Duchess and Prince Harry would spearhead a mental health campaign, Heads Together, which would serve as the 2017 Virgin Money London Marathon Charity of the Year. Competitors were filmed running through the grounds of KP with William, Kate and Harry joining them and adding a brief message: "Mental health is as important as physical health." Prince Harry added: "We can all play our part by talking and listening to each other and helping each other find support." And William concluded: "Let's get our heads together and change the conversation on mental health." A Kensington Palace spokesman said: "Through their work with young people, emergency response, homeless charities, and with veterans, Their Royal Highnesses have seen time and time again that unresolved mental health problems lie at the heart of some of our greatest social challenges. They are passionate about tackling the stigma surrounding the issue. Too often, they have seen that people feel afraid to admit that they are struggling with their mental health. This fear of prejudice and judgment stops people from getting help and can destroy families and end lives. They want to help change the national conversation."

From there, we began to see a significant portion of public engagements dedicated to mental health. In May, Kate paid her first visit as Royal Patron to the Anna Freud Centre for a luncheon supporting the development of a new centre of excellence for children's mental health. Ahead of the engagement the Palace said: "HRH has a continued interest in drawing attention to child mental health issues and the importance of early intervention and working with the whole family to provide children with in-school mental health services. Her Royal Highness is keen to draw attention to the ways in which this charity is working to lead a step change in children's and young people's mental health care."

In May, the royals attended the official launch of Heads Together at the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. The Duchess wearing the GOAT Binky blouse and Banana Republic skirt, joined William and Harry for a joint speech where Kate said: "Heads Together wants to help everyone feel much more comfortable with their everyday mental wellbeing."

During a day of engagements in Luton, the Duke and Duchess met with young people from local organisation YouthScape. The couple heard from Holly on how the organisation helped her. Holly emotionally revealed that she began self-harming after her mother was diagnosed with an autoimmune disease. She told the couple that Youthscape helped her cope, especially when her mother died when she was just 14. William told her: "What happened should never have happened to you and you should never have gone through it. The fact you have gone through it and got where you are now, you should be really, really proud." Kate said she was "so courageous" and "strong". Speaking after the meeting, Miss Jones told the Press Association: "I feel so thankful for what he said, especially because he lost his mum at a similar age. It meant a lot to me. He said I was really brave and strong and that I should be proud of myself. He was really nice and so was Kate."

William and Kate visited YoungMinds UK helpline service to see the process of what actually happens when people seek support. After listening to live calls, Kate said she could tell from the caller's voice, the emotion at the beginning, and then the acceptance: "OK, this is what I need to do." To relief towards the end: "OK, I've been listened to, I know what my next steps are."

As part of the campaign, William and Kate went 'back to school' at Stewards Academy in Harlow, Essex. It was an opportunity to find out more about the pressures faced by young people when they are going through big changes in their lives, and learn about the support from peers and parents that can help them get through these changes.

On World Mental Health Day, Kate sported a floral Kate Spade dress for a special Heads Together event at County Hall and the London Eye. The theme was 'focusing on the importance of psychological and mental first aid for all'. During a speech, the Duchess noted: "William, Harry and I feel it is our duty to do what we can, with your help, to shine a spotlight on emotional wellbeing and highlight the support that is out there to prevent or manage the pain at difficult times. The three of us are coming to the realisation that more needs to be done to support people who are seeking help. Over the coming months, we hope to explore what else we can do to increase the level of service and support that people can receive."

In November, Kate attended the Place2Be Awards. The organisation is a charity partner of Heads Together and one of her first patronages.

To close 2016, the Duke and Duchess and Prince Harry carried out a very appropriately festive engagement - joining youth helpline the Mix for a volunteer Christmas party in support of Heads Together.

Kate's first engagement of 2017 was in support of the Anna Freud Centre. Whilst chatting with families in the Early Parenting Unit, she said: "Parenting is tough. And with the history and all the things and the experiences you've all witnessed, to do that on top of your own anxieties, and the lack of support you also received as mothers...I find it extraordinary how you've managed, actually. So really well done."

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry spoke at a briefing at the Institute of Contemporary Arts in Carlton House Terrace to outline the next phase of the campaign in mid January. The Duchess said: "We have heard time and time again in the course of our work how talking can help heal the hidden challenges we can’t deal with alone, so the question that William, Harry and I have asked ourselves is, how we can get more people to start talking?"

William, Kate and Harry got their running shoes on and had quite a bit of fun as they joined runners for a training session in February.

The following day, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge attended the Big Assembly by Place2Be, hosted at Mitchell Brook Primary School as part of the campaign. The Duchess spoke to the audience about how it's as important to be kind as it is to excel in maths and sport: "I think that every child should have people around them to show them love and show them kindness, and that is what Place2Be is doing so amazingly here in your school. When I was growing up I was very lucky. My family was the most important thing to me. They provided me with somewhere safe to grow and learn, and I know I was fortunate not to have been confronted by serious adversity at a young age."

In the weeks leading up to the marathon, one could say there was a shift in the campaign. William, Kate and Harry recognised that if they wanted others to speak about their experiences, they would have to do the same. Based on statements and conversations she had during engagements over the years, one could safely surmise Kate found the early months of motherhood with Prince George incredibly challenging. After spending several weeks in Bucklebury, William and Kate took their son to Anglesey. During an engagement with Best Beginnings, the Duchess talked about how "there's so much support for mothers when they are pregnant but it can be very lonely after your baby is born".

Kate gave a speech on motherhood, which I think was one of her best to date. Drawing on your own feelings, emotions and experiences as a mother and the transition to motherhood, it was something millions of parents could relate to. She spoke of challenges and feelings of ignorance: "Personally, becoming a mother has been such a rewarding and wonderful experience, however, at times it has also been a huge challenge - even for me, who has support at home that most mothers do not. Nothing can really prepare you for you the sheer overwhelming experience of what it means to become a mother.  It is full of complex emotions of joy, exhaustion, love, and worry, all mixed together.  Your fundamental identity changes overnight.  You go from thinking of yourself as primarily an individual, to suddenly being a mother, first and foremost. And yet there is no rule book, no right or wrong - you just have to make it up and do the very best you can to care for your family.  For many mothers, myself included, this can, at times, lead to a lack of confidence and feelings of ignorance."

Next, the OktoSay film series was launched. The films showed a range of people, including well-known faces, discussing the first time they opened up about mental health and the impact it had on their lives. The royals commissioned the series, with leading directors including Stephen Frears (The Queen) and John Madden (Shakespeare in Love) participating in the project. There were many touching stories along the way. I vividly recall hearing Mark Austin discussing his daughter Maddy's painful journey on the radio. A brief summary of her story: Maddy Austin is studying biochemistry at university and will be running the 2017 Virgin Money London Marathon for Place2Be, one of the charity partners of Heads Together. In the video she talks to her father, broadcaster Mark Austin, about her teenage battle with anorexia. Mark wrote a moving piece for The Sunday Times: "One moment she was a vibrant, strong, energetic and beautiful young girl; the next, she had begun a rapid, dangerous descent towards what seemed, at times, certain death. That’s what anorexia does. I didn’t understand it at first. Cancer I understand: diseased cells multiplying, spreading." Since then he has given several radio interviews describing how harrowing it was to see his daughter battle anorexia. It's been quite a journey for Maddy and her family, however, she's clearly doing so well. I'm sure it was very emotional for her family to see her run the London Marathon.

With the London Marathon just days away, efforts intensified in the run up to the big day. The Duchess of Cambridge hosted Team Heads Together runners at Kensington Palace. Kate met DJ Neev Spencer - who suffered post natal depression after the birth of her daughter, Genevieve, then nine months old. Kate told her: "Nothing can prepare you for motherhood - especially the first time round, the mixed emotions."

There was also a flurry of activity from William and Harry in support of Heads Together. This included sharing their own mental health struggles relating to the loss of their mother. Prince Harry very bravely spoke to Bryony Gordon about the "years of total chaos" he endured while struggling to come to terms with the loss of his mother in his twenties. Harry said he "shut down all emotions" for almost two decades, felt "on the verge of punching someone" and suffered anxiety during engagements. He admitted he was "close to a breakdown" on numerous occasions. With encouragement from William, he sought counselling at 28. Harry's in a much better place now and said he "finally feels able to take his private life seriously". The courageous interview was a defining moment for the campaign - resonating greatly with people. During an interview with CALMzine magazine, William said: "Catherine, Harry and I are clear that we want both George and Charlotte to grow up feeling able to talk about their feelings." He added "There's a time and a place for the 'stiff upper lip', but not at the expense of your health." Harry reflected on his time in the military: "You’ll do anything for each other, scrub each other’s boots, drag each other through the mud, anything. Yet, on the other hand, this support for each other hasn’t included looking after how your buddy is feeling and thinking about things."

The trio visited the Global Academy where they met students interested in media, joined a roundtable discussion on mental health and met radio hosts.

In a fun and unexpected appearance, William and Kate paid a visit to Radio 1 DJ Adele Roberts who was participating in the London Marathon in support of Heads Together. Speaking about Heads Together, Prince William described how "eye-opening" the experience had been. "This issue of mental health is really brimming under the surface of public consciousness," he said. Kate said simply talking could be "like medicine".

Kensington Palace released a new video of William, Kate and Harry discussing why Heads Together matters to them, why they chose to tackle the stigma of mental health, and the personal reasons driving them. Why Heads Together and why mental health? William and Harry said the concept was actually Kate's idea. The Duchess said: "Because it's a common thread, mental health seemed to run between all the different areas we were working in, so whether it's homelessness, military [looking at Harry], and addiction with me, and bereavement [looking to William]." Kate opened up about the difficulties she faced when George was a baby, particularly when they returned to Anglesey: "Having a child, particularly your first child, is such a life-changing moment, nothing can really prepare you for that. Remembering the first few days with little George, you have no idea what really you are doing, no matter how many books you read, nothing can prepare you for it." Kate then turned to William and said: "Do you remember up in Anglesey? So we'd had our couple of weeks of family support and you were keen to get back to work and I was like, 'yeah, I'll come with you', so we scooted off back to Anglesey with George. Those first few weeks were a steep learning curve. Massively."

William and Harry discussed "never talking enough" about the loss of their mother. Kate paid tribute to how strong they are. "Considering what you boys sadly went through, the trauma that you experienced... I think it's incredible how strong you are and how you've been able to cope really. I put that down to your really early years, your childhood experience." Harry said: "I always thought, what's the point of bringing up something that's only going to make you sad. It ain't going to change it. It ain't going to bring her back. Kate paid tribute to the princes' "amazingly close" relationship, saying it had obviously been a big help. "Most of the time," joked William, adding: "We've probably been brought closer because of the circumstances."

On Sunday, 23 April 2017, it was a royal send-off for runners as the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry officially started the 2017 Virgin Money London Marathon by pressing the big red button.

More than 700 Heads Together runners took part in the London Marathon, raising money and awareness to change the national conversation around mental health. All 39,000+ runners in the event were given a Heads Together blue headband to help make 2017 the 'mental health marathon'. The event raised millions for mental health charities.

It was a wonderful day.

Filled with moments like this.

And this.

The royals enjoyed every moment of it.

Maddy Austin ran for Place2Be.

Support was very much evident :)

In terms of fundraising, it was a record breaking day, with millions going to mental health charities:

'The 2017 Virgin Money London Marathon has raised the largest amount for an annual single day charity fundraising event, raising £61.6 million for a range of charities. This is the eleventh successive year in which it has set this world record. The 2017 figure, the first time the event has passed the £60m barrier, represented an increase of more than £2m on the previous record total of £59.4m raised at the 2016 event.'

Following the year-long campaign aimed at starting conversation on mental health and smashing the stigma, how successful did their efforts prove? Prince William found out the results during a visit to the Data Observatory at Imperial College London, and described it as feeling like "exam results day".

We learned that better tools are needed to help people have a conversation about mental health whether in times of calm or times of crisis. pic.twitter.com/agQ7iF8HfK

— Kensington Palace (@KensingtonRoyal) October 8, 2017

The study of 14,000 people by YouGov noted a significant change in the public’s approach to mental health between February and May this year, as publicity about the Heads Together campaign was reaching its height. Looking at the level of research, William who had been incredibly busy with a full-time schedule of royal duties, described it as "amazing".

Let's take a look at the findings from the survey.

More people said they felt comfortable in starting that all important conversation.

The reaction on social media.

More on the results from the Telegraph:

'In particular, experts noted, the publicity arising from initiatives including the OK To Say videos and Prince Harry’s interview about his own mental health had almost closed the gap between men and women, with men catching up with the conversation.In February, 45 per cent of men and 52 per cent of women said they talked about their own mental health.

 By May, 60 per cent of men and 61 per cent of women had such discussions. At the peak of this change, Heads Together found, 1.2 m more men talked about their own mental health. The study noted a “slow and steady increase” in people talking about mental health in general, with a three per cent rise, or 1.5 million people, discussing it in May compared with February.'

Each of the eight charity partners reported a marked increase in people getting in touch, wishing to access their services. Anna Freud Centre reported a 42% increase in referrals; Mind experienced 58% more calls than usual; Best Beginnings saw a 105% increase in app downloads; and Place2Be noted a 148% boost in downloads of their school resources.

In the video below, presenter Neev Spencer, who participated in the #OKtoSay series and met with Kate at KP, goes through the results.

We are incredibly proud of the millions of conversations that the @heads_together campaign initiated on mental health. pic.twitter.com/fYggzf0mIm

— Kensington Palace (@KensingtonRoyal) October 8, 2017

William expressed his concern at the number of male suicides and discussed how much more there is to do. More from People's story:

'But there is more to do, William realized. Seeing that three quarters of suicides in the U.K. are men, he said, “That’s still a worrying statistic though, it really is.”
“At the beginning, we were trying to understand why at home people weren’t sharing some of their problems. If we’ve at least made a big impression there we can work on the wider societal aspects. “But I think it all has to start at home. If you can’t even have a conversation with your loved ones, there’s no way you’re going to go to HR at work.”

He added, “The only thing, trying to extrapolate the data from this, is that these individuals who have spoken have probably got a reasonably good support network around them. “Are we missing a whole set of people who have either been in care or who have had very bad experiences at young ages, who have bad mental health already? How do we affect that demographic?”

What's next for the initiative? Reports in recent months alluded to a 'Phase 2' and a continued focus in the area. Last night, it was revealed the Royal Foundation of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry is investing £2 million to establish a new start-up for digital mental health innovation, which will develop new digital tools to help people have conversations about mental health. It is the largest single grant from the Foundation. This new digital mental health start-up will be led by CEO Victoria Hornby and a board made up of leading technology experts. The start-up will prioritise tools that could be of particular benefit to young people who are more likely to seek advice and help online and on their phones.

More information on plans from the official press release:

'Victoria Hornby, CEO of the new startup said: "This new digital startup will bring together experts in mental health and technology to find and create new solutions. We want to use the power of technology to reach the millions of people, especially young people, who feel isolated and alone, and help them to find the right place to talk."

More on the establishment of a centre for digital mental health innovations: Rapidly evolving technology offers the potential for us to reach large number of people with tools to start conversations and get help, when and where they need this support. There is a need for new trusted and tested digital tools for mental health as currently, a search online can produce confusing, conflicting and potentially damaging information and advice. Heads Together research shows that young people are more likely than any other age group to be having conversations about mental health using technology, including by phone, email or social media. Around the world, the use of technology to reach those in need of help and support is showing promising outcomes and we want to make sure these advances are available to people in the UK.

Further information on the new digital start-up will be provided in due course. It is expected to be operational by January, 2018 with announcements about its first investments in digital tools made later in 2018. The new CEO is Victoria Hornby, the former Director of Programmes at the Royal Foundation. Having worked on the development of programmes for mental health, and specifically on applications of technology in this area, she will drive this forward in her new role.'

The grant will see investment in schools, military workplaces and others key areas identified. In the workplace, Heads Together has found mental health problems are the leading cause of absence in the UK, but people are less likely to talk to a supervisor. Mental ill health costs the UK £35 billion annually. Singled out as a particular area of concern, three in four suicide victims are male. Though men are getting better at talking, they remain far less likely to seek professional support than women.

I look forward to seeing what the next year holds for the initiative. When we get our heads together, we can achieve great things...