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Royals back COVID-19 mental health campaign

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have given their backing to Public Health England’s new COVID-19 mental health campaign.

As part of the campaign, Public Health England’s (PHE) Every Mind Matters website has updated to feature new advice focused on looking after people’s mental wellbeing during the current coronavirus pandemic. 

The Whitehall department has also released new data, which shows more than 4 in 5 (84.2%) Brits are worried about the effect that coronavirus is having on their life, with over half (53.1%) saying it was affecting their wellbeing and nearly half (46.9%) reporting high levels of anxiety.

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are supporting the Every Mind Matters campaign and have narrated a new short film set to be broadcast across national TV channels from Monday 20 April.

The film portrays a range of people whose lives have been affected by COVID-19. 

It aims to reassure people that support is available and encourages everyone to take care of their mental wellbeing at this difficult time.

Alongside the new COVID-19 mental health support, Every Mind Matters encourages people to complete a personal ‘Mind Plan’, a quick and free interactive tool offering tailored mental wellbeing advice.

More than 1.9 million Mind Plans have been completed since the launch in October.

‘During the coronavirus outbreak, it is natural for all of us to feel worried or anxious, but there are things we can all do to help ourselves and others, to prevent these feelings from becoming more serious,’ said emeritus medical director at Public Health England, Professor Paul Cosford.

‘Every Mind Matters offers NHS-endorsed guidance on the simple things we can do to maintain good mental wellbeing.’

The updated campaign comes a day after the Welsh Government announced £1.25m to provide additional mental health support for children who may be experiencing increased stress or anxiety as a result of the outbreak.

Welsh education minister Kirsty Williams said the money will go towards school counselling services to deal with an anticipated increase in demand since the start of the pandemic.

‘With the necessary restrictions on how much time children can spend outdoors, in order to halt the spread of the virus, we must also be prepared for an impact on children’s emotional wellbeing,’ said Ms Williams.

Photo Credit – Wokandapix (Pixabay)

Jamie Hailstone
Senior reporter - NewStart

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