Prince William Secret: Duke Of Cambridge Unveils INCREDIBLE Act Of Kindness
Prince William opened Volunteer's Week with a revelation. The Duke of Cambridge has been secretly manning a helpline for people dealing with their mental health crisis.
Helping Everyone In Little Ways
William, along with 20,000 volunteers, have undergone training to be able to provide help through SHOUT85258. It is U.K.'s first round-the-clock messaging service for people needing mental health support.
He and his wife Kate Middleton, along with the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, launched the crisis line in May of last year. They have donated more than $3 million in service through their Royal Foundation.
Since its launch, the volunteers have had more than 300,000 text conversations. Moreover, according to data, at least 65% of the people who asked for mental health support from the crisis line are under the age of 25.
Kensington Palace previously refused to confirm if Prince William was working on the platform following the pledge he made during his training. However, the video that the palace released on Friday revealed the truth.
The video taken last month showed Prince William telling a group of SHOUT volunteers that he has been joining them on duty.
"I'm going to share a little secret with you guys but I'm actually on the platform volunteering," he said.
Some of the volunteers expressed delight in what they found out.
"Are you? That's amazing," said one volunteer, Jo Irwin.
Victoria Hornby, chief executive of SHOUT, said: "You'll be taking six or seven at a time in no time."
While Prince William would like to extend help to as many people as he could, he would leave dealing with multiple calls to the more seasoned volunteers.
The disclosure was made to give all the volunteers a confidence boost. The officials of SHOUT are gearing up to handle an increased number of cases in the coming weeks. The demand for the service has gotten even higher due to the coronavirus pandemic.
It is understood why the palace has been reluctant in admitting that the second heir to the throne is volunteering for the helpline service. They feared that there might be an overwhelming number of calls by people hoping they could discuss their mental health concerns with the future king of England.
The Palace declined to give other details about how often or how much time Prince William renders in his volunteer work. Their only focus now is to inspire more volunteers to keep doing what they are doing.
The celebration of Volunteer's Week is the nation's way of recognizing their role in the community. At this time of the coronavirus pandemic, everyone can serve as a volunteer in their own way.
After all, everyone has got their own reason to give back.
Celebrating Volunteer's Weeks With A Smile
Britain's future king expressed his gratitude to all those engaged in volunteer work. In his video conference with Machynlleth Community Corona Response, he called on the volunteers and thanked them for their hard work.
"It's National Volunteering Week and we want to say a big thank you from both of us," he said.
"Thank you for all the volunteering you're doing, thank you for all the time and all the effort you're putting in. It's been hugely rewarding and important that you guys are doing that. All of you have been a lifeline to all the people who you've helped in the area."
In April, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge did more volunteer work, too! Prince William, Kate Middleton and their children prepared food parcels which they distributed to pensioners and other vulnerable members of the community in Sandringham estate in Norfolk.
