Prince William Celebrates Milestone for Mental Health Text Service Backed by Him and Kate Middleton

Prince William is celebrating a landmark for a mental health support service.

The text messaging service Shout has hit three million conversations. Shout is the U.K.’s first 24-hour messaging support for those with mental health challenges and was set up in 2019 with backing from William and Kate Middleton’s Royal Foundation.

On March 6, the Prince of Wales visited Mental Health Innovations, which was established by the foundation in 2017 and was behind Shout. MHI has now merged with another charity, The Mix, as they seek to combine their resources to provide data-driven analysis and expertise to deliver innovative services and insights to aid the mental health of the country.

Soon after arriving at the MHI center in White City, London, the royal chatted with young volunteers from Mental Health Innovation’s Youth Advisory Board, who provide services through both The Mix and Shout.

William, 42, was told that since the merger, the Youth Advisory Board has collaborated on the development of a new ecosystem of free, 24/7 mental health support that will reach millions more young people struggling with their well-being. He also heard how the merged charities are also using the latest data science and AI to support their services and to provide vital insights into the mental health of some of the most vulnerable groups from across the U.K.

In 2019, Prince William vowed to train as a volunteer and has since anonymously taken calls and helped with advice, and the following year he made good on that promise.

Shout has become an integral part of the mental health support that William and Kate endeavor to champion during their public work. Five years ago, at the height of the COVID pandemic, Shout reached its first anniversary, and William and Kate made a video call to volunteers to pay tribute to their work during the health crisis.

"You guys are the trailblazers, you have been doing a fantastic job keeping Shout moving forward, so well done and thank you for all your hard work; we really appreciate it,” William told them.

In 2021, the royal couple shared an emotional video call with the parents of a 12-year-old boy who had been suffering severe anxiety during the pandemic. Standing on a bridge one day, the boy — who is being identified as "Jack" to protect his anonymity — decided to end his life. But then he turned to the Shout, and the texts helped bring him back from the brink.

"We have no doubt that what happened between our son and SHOUT when he stood on that bridge was enough to save his life," the boy's father, whose identity is also being kept anonymous, told William and Kate in a video call.

Princess Kate told them, "I can't imagine as parents ourselves what it's been like for you, and it's every parent's worst nightmare is receiving the call that you did on that night." 

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William's visit came a day after he headed to the hospital where Kate, 43, was born on Jan. 9, 1982, to see how staff were faring five years on from the pandemic and the support that is in place for health service workers.

During his visit, Prince William spoke to staff and volunteers, telling them, "Everyone in the NHS is there to care for others, so the last person who gets looked after is the individual. And I’ve seen when I’ve worked with doctors and nurses, when I’ve worked with paramedics, they always put it down the line because they don’t want to put their workload on someone else."

"For me, looking into the nation’s mental health over the last few years, unless there’s almost enforced breaks in someone’s career, as part of your career development, we’re never going to get to that point where you can look after their mental health because you always rely on the individual to put their hand up," he added.