Kate MiddletonandPrince Williamare hearing how teens are prioritizing their mental well-being in various ways.
The Prince and Princess of Wales visited theOpen Door Charityin Birkenhead on Thursday tolearn how the organizationuses culture and creativity to inspire and engage people. They met with four teenagers using the charity’s Oomoo program, which offers activities such as dance classes, film nights and other well-being activities — including creating music, which resulted in afull album.
“Has producing music and taking part in those workshops helped? Has it helped you with your personal lives?” Kate, who celebrated her 41st birthday on Monday, asked the teens.
One young man answered, “I’d say so. For me, having that music as a tool is good for me to express my emotions through something I can enjoy. Producing music and letting out what you’re feeling is better than saying it in a clinical atmosphere. I can put it into words. That was tough to explain!”
Prince William and Kate Middleton.Jon Super-WPA Pool/Getty Images
William, 40, commended him: “Very articulate!”
“Talking therapies don’t work for some people, they’re not for everybody,” Kate said. “It’s so important to have a range of therapies.”
Dan, who works on the Oomoo program,tells PEOPLEthat they gave the royal couple their album for a listen.
“Now they’ve got a CD, which they said they would put on in the car,” he says.
“You could tell that they were really knowledgeable,” Dan adds. “Particularly Kate, you could tell. It would have been easy for them to come in and not have done the research and not have known about it. But it came across how much they know mental health is a problem and how they know there’s not one way to solve it and how interested they are in finding the ways people are helping other people and what they can do to make that more of a nationwide thing. They definitely really care.”
Prince William and Kate Middleton.PA Images/INSTARimages.com
Mental health among the old and young has been a centerpiece ofPrince Williamand Princess Kate’s public work for many years. It is one of the main areas of focus of the couple’sRoyal Foundation, which Prince William and Prince Harry set up in 2009 before their wives joined following their marriages. (Prince Harry and Meghan Markle left the Royal Foundation in June 2019.)
Their Heads Together campaign was the start of their mission to tackle the stigma of mental health and provide supportive resources.
“Our 2017 Heads Together campaign, which convened eight charity partners with one voice, encouraged more people in the UK to talk openly about mental health than ever before, and more people started accessing services as a result,” according to the organization’s website.
Prince William, Kate Middleton and Prince Harry.Nicky J Sims/Getty
Prince Williamhas highlighted the importance of mental health in every area of life, frommedical workerstosoccer players, also makingcombating male suicidea crucial part of his royal work.
Kate is also supportive of mental health initiatives, particularly for children and young people. Her brother, James Middleton, has shared that Princess Kate and the rest of his familyjoined him in therapy sessionswhile he struggled with depression.
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Prince Harry and Meghan Markle.Dia Dipasupil/Getty
Prince Harrysaid in 2017 that he sought professional help after experiencing grief and anxiety. “The experience I have had is that once you start talking about it, you realize that actually you’re part of quite a big club,” he said in apodcast interviewwithThe Telegraph’s Bryony Gordon.
In anexclusive interview with PEOPLEsurrounding the release of his new book,Spare,Prince Harryshares how therapy also helped him deal with the death of his mother, Princess Diana, who died when he was 12.
source: people.com
