- Clara Hughes leads the biggest
mental health conversation ever from Canada to the world
- Social media engagement on Twitter, Snapchat, Instagram,
Facebook more than triples
- Royalty, political leaders, sports heroes, corporations and
competitors, entertainers and other celebrities in Canada and around the globe embrace the
cause
- On the way to $100 million:
Bell's total donation to mental health now at $86,504,429.05
MONTRÉAL, Jan. 26, 2017 /CNW
Telbec/ - It's official! Bell Let's Talk Day 2017 has set all-new
records with unprecedented participation in Canada's national
conversation about mental health, the largest of its kind in the
world. People in Canada and around
the globe joined with Clara Hughes
and the Bell Let's Talk team to talk about mental health like never
before.
"Wow Canada! Thank you! We've shattered records again with a
mental health discussion that reached every corner of Canada and
points all around the world too. We keep on knocking holes in the
dark wall that is stigma, and we keep on growing funding for new
research and expanded care as the engagement builds and builds,"
said Clara. "It's amazing to see the passion and positivity all
around as we speak openly about the impact of mental illness on
each of us. I've talked to so many people whose lives have been
made better by our conversation, and I pass their thanks to you.
Because you make it happen!"
Over the 28.5 hours from midnight Newfoundland time to midnight Pacific time, there were
131,705,010 total Bell Let's Talk interactions, including
texts, mobile calls and long distance calls by Bell customers,
tweets using the #BellLetsTalk hashtag on Twitter, views of the
Facebook Bell Let's Talk video, Instagram posts using the
#BellLetsTalk hashtag, and Snapchats with the Bell Let's Talk
geofilter – a 4.6% increase over the 125,915,295 total on Bell
Let's Talk Day 2016.
With Snapchat and Instagram joining Twitter and Facebook as Bell
Let's Talk partners, total social media interactions almost
tripled, from 7,409,845 messages of support in 2016 to 22,008,855
this year. #BellLetsTalk was the top Twitter trend in Canada and worldwide.
Bell donates 5 cents per
interaction, at no extra charge to participants, so the result is a
further $6,585,250.50 in funding for Canadian mental health
programs.
Bell Let's Talk Day once again drew support from Canada's most
prominent leaders including Governor General David Johnston and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau as well as the Royal family with
tweets from the Duke and Duchess of
Cambridge Will and Kate and Prince
Harry. Prime Minister Trudeau also joined in on a live
Twitter chat with Clara and Bell Let's Talk spokesperson
Marie-Soleil Dion to share his
perspectives on mental health.
The scope of engagement in Bell Let's Talk Day has become truly
remarkable. Political party leaders, members of Parliament,
provincial and territorial premiers and ministers, mayors and
councillors, Olympians, professional sports teams and players in
Canada and the US, major
corporations and a broad range of the most high-profile Canadian,
US and global entertainers and other celebrities continue to
embrace the anti-stigma cause.
Their participation drove hundreds of thousands of retweets from
fans and followers. To see the amazing level of support, please
visit Bell.ca/LetsTalk.
The 2017 Bell Let's Talk team
Led by Clara, the Bell
Let's Talk team was busy all across the country on Bell Let's Talk
Day appearing on media outlets, speaking at and hosting events,
visiting students and young people, and performing concerts, all to
shine a spotlight on mental health.
TSN host Michael Landsberg,
comedian Howie Mandel, entertainer
Mary Walsh, and Québec personalities
Stefie Shock and Michel Mpambara, singer-songwriter Serena Ryder, actor Marie-Soleil Dion and retired CFL player Étienne
Boulay, professional golfer Andrew
Jensen, comedian and writer Kevin
Breel, CFL veteran Shea Emry,
musician Robb Nash, Toronto Maple
Leafs Head Coach Mike Babcock, music
producer Bob Ezrin, Concordia
Stingers hockey team assistant captain Philippe Hudon, singer-songwriter Séan McCann
and Afghanistan veteran Bruno
Guévremont, all shared their own mental health stories, encouraging
Canadians around the country to join in.
"On behalf of everyone involved in Bell Let's Talk and all those
the initiative supports, I'd like to convey our immense gratitude
to everyone who participated in a day of such wonderful progress
for Canadian mental health," said Mary
Deacon, Chair of Bell Let's Talk. "To Clara and team, to all
the partners who helped carry the message forward, to the students
who led the charge at campuses nationwide, to all of you who shared
your time and your stories: your passion for the cause is making
all the difference for people who struggle with a mental illness in
their lives and all those who support them. Thank you
everyone!"
Canadian student-athletes make a really big noise
With
more than 20,000 student-athletes at 54 universities leading the
mental health conversation, Bell Let's Talk was a focus for
Canadian campuses. Student-athletes recorded a series of
inspirational videos about mental health, and more than 100 Bell
Let's Talk themed university sports games took place through
January and on Bell Let's Talk Day. They also led the charge on
Canada's largest ever Thunderclap on the social media crowdspeaking
platform, which allows a single message to be shared en masse. With
5,479 people registered and a social reach of
6,003,469, yesterday's Bell Let's Talk Day Thunderclap
wasn't just the largest ever in Canada, it was the biggest ever for mental
health around the world.
Thank you to partners and friends
Bell Let's Talk
extends a huge thank you to the hundreds of Canadian corporations,
hospitals and universities, governments, the Canadian Armed Forces,
professional sports teams and associations, community and mental
health partners, chambers of commerce, and schools, colleges and
universities across Canada that joined the conversation through
events, promotions and advertising, social media, newsletters and
websites.
Your engagement at work
With every interaction on Bell
Let's Talk Day driving increased Bell donations to mental health
programs around the country, Canadians are having a direct and
positive impact on the lives of people living with mental health
issues.
There's no doubt views on mental health are changing: 4 in 5
Canadians say they're more aware of mental health issues since Bell
Let's Talk began in 2010. Since then, the initiative has supported
more than 700 organizations around Canada providing mental health
services and support; 3,500 individuals from military families have
benefited from Bell True Patriot Love Fund projects; 4,200
frontline mental health staff have been trained; more than 640,000
people have received mental health care and supports through a Bell
Let's Talk funded program, including more than 200,000 children and
youth; and over 1 million callers to crisis and distress centres
have received help though programs supported by Bell Let's
Talk.
Bell helped fund the world's first national workplace mental
health and safety standard, and was one of the first to adopt it,
with some 10,000 Bell managers having completed compulsory mental
health training to date. Bell also partnered with Morneau Shepell and Queen's University to
develop the world's first university-certified workplace mental
health training program, now in use at more than 340 companies.
New Bell Let's Talk projects
In the lead up to Bell
Let's Talk Day this year, Clara and other members of the Bell Let's
Talk team announced several new projects in January: a $1 million donation, matched by provincial
government funding in each Atlantic province, to expand the work of
the Strongest Families Institute in the region; the renewal of the
$1 million Bell Canada Mental Health
and Anti-Stigma Research Chair at Queen's University; $300,000 to two health foundations in Québec's
Lanaudière region to support developing services tailored to
clients in the region with mental health problems; a $250,000 gift to McGill
University's Montreal Neurological Institute and
Hospital to help improve access to mental health services focused
on the needs of multicultural communities, and $250,000 for a new mental health program to be
delivered by Nunavut's Embrace
Life Council; and $150,000 in funding
for St. John Ambulance to incorporate a mental health module in its
standard and emergency first aid courses.
The Bell Let's Talk Community Fund
The annual Bell
Let's Talk Community Fund supports frontline organizations
improving access to mental health programs and services in every
region of Canada. Applications are now being accepted for the 2017
Bell Let's Talk Community Fund. The 2017 application period is open
until March 31 and all 2017 Fund
grants will be disbursed before December 31,
2017. To apply for 2017 funding, please visit
Bell.ca/LetsTalk.
About Bell Let's Talk
Bell Let's Talk promotes mental
health based on 4 action pillars: anti-stigma, care and access, new
research, and workplace best practices. Bell Let's Talk was
launched in September 2010 as a
5-year program with a $50 million
initial donation from Bell and a commitment to grow its funding
based on the engagement of Canadians in the cause on Bell Let's
Talk Day. In September 2015, Bell
announced it would extend the initiative a further 5 years and
commit to at least $100 million in
funding for Canadian mental health.
To learn more about Bell Let's Talk, please visit
Bell.ca/LetsTalk.
Media inquiries:
Jacqueline Michelis
Bell Media Relations
613 785-1427
jacqueline.michelis@bell.ca
@Bell_News
SOURCE Bell Canada