Heads Together, a partnership of mental health charities spearheaded by the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry, has been announced as the Virgin London Marathon 2017 partner.
Heads Together brings The Royal Foundation of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry together with seven mental health charities. The campaign aims to help end the stigma around mental health.
The seven mental health charities are Mind; Place2Be, Best Beginnings, TheMix, YoungMinds, Calm, and Contact. Heads Together will also be Virgin Money’s corporate charity partner for the next 12 months.
The new campaign “aims to change the national conversation on mental wellbeing and is a partnership with inspiring charities with decades of experience in tackling stigma, raising awareness, and providing vital help for people with mental health challenges”.
A spokesman for The Duke and Duchess and Prince Harry said: "Through their work with young people, emergency response, homeless charities, and with veterans, their Royal Highnesses have seen time and time again that unresolved mental health problems lie at the heart of some of our greatest social challenges.
“Too often, they have seen that people feel afraid to admit that they are struggling with their mental health. This fear of prejudice and judgement stops people from getting help and can destroy families and end lives. They also believe that people need to feel much more comfortable with their everyday mental wellbeing and have the practical tools to support their friends and family.”
Jayne-Anne Gadhia, chief executive of Virgin Money, said: “Virgin Money is delighted to be supporting the new Heads Together campaign to raise awareness and funds for mental health charities. As well as being the official charity partner for the 2017 Virgin Money London Marathon, Heads Together will be Virgin Money's corporate charity partner for the next 12 months.
“We look forward to helping the campaign raise as much money as possible to make a positive and sustainable difference to as many people as possible.”
Hugh Brasher, Virgin Money London Marathon event director, said: “Mental health is a huge issue for modern society. We are delighted to be working with the Royal Foundation to fundraise for the Heads Together campaign and to raise awareness of the vital work of mental health charities.
“We hope that being the Virgin Money London Marathon Charity of the Year in 2017 will make a real difference to the campaign.”
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry recorded a video (below) to launch the campaign. Heads Together will be the biggest single project that they have undertaken together.
