The Duchess of Cambridge today paid a solo visit to a mental health service she set up with Meghan Markle almost three years ago.
Shout - a text service for people struggling with their mental health - was Kate and Prince William’s first major project with Meghan and Prince Harry.
It launched in May 2019 following a £3million investment from the Royal Foundation, when the royals were dubbed the Fab Four.
However, today when visiting the service in London's Notting Hill, Kate was flying solo as she met volunteers and those who have raised funds for the organisation.
Among them was a teenage Scout who raised £8,000 for the service by sleeping outside in a hammock for a year.
Kate met Leo Street, 13, and called him ‘an inspiration’ after he braved temperatures as low as minus five to raise money for the charity.
The duchess, who wore a £355 olive green Derek Lam dress and £10 ASOS earrings, joked: “There really isn’t a big enough Scout badge for that. What you achieved is really inspiring.”
“You must have had some impressive kit to keep warm,” she said.
Leo, from Swanley, slept under a heavy-duty tarpaulin to shield him from the extremities of the weather.
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He told the duchess his next fundraising adventure will be to cycle to Scotland during half term.
Mark Ungless, 49, an analytics expert, said that children as young as 13 and under formed eight per cent of their texts – which are received mostly between 10pm and midnight
“I told the duchess we were surprised by the number of very young people reaching out and the time too. It needs addressing,” he said.
Kate’s visit to Shout was to mark the mental health text service reaching over one million text conversations with those in need and struggling to cope.
Shout has seen usage on its platform increase by 140 per cent since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic and Kate was hearing how it needs more volunteers to join to ensure it can meet growing demand.
The duchess was also told that conversations taking place on the Shout can be used to provide insights on mental health in the UK, with suicide (34 per cent), depression (32 per cent) and anxiety or stress (31 per cent), being cited as the main reasons why texters have sought support.
During the visit, Kate also viewed a live demonstration of the platform before joining a small group of Shout Volunteers to hear about their experiences of helping those in distress.
She was also shown how people have personally benefited from taking part in the service, including by gaining new skills and developing a sense of purpose and also met Cassie Waters who began raising money for Shout after using the service herself when she suffered mental health challenges in 2021.
During her visit, Kate also met clinical supervisors, volunteers, and fundraisers to thank them for their invaluable efforts to ensure that vital mental health support is available across the UK at any time of day or night.
She heard how the service is inviting members of the public to become Shout Volunteers to meet the growing demand for support.
