Mental Health Benefits from Let’s Talk Day
MONTREAL – Did you text on Bell “Let’s Talk Day”? A massive number of people did, and those efforts have generated a bounty of $5,472,585.90 that will help promote good mental health in Canada.
Bell states, in a media statement, “The record number of people across the country, indeed across North America, joined Canadian Olympian and Bell Let’s Talk national spokesperson Clara Hughes and friends in the conversation to break the stigma and move Canadian mental health forward. Thanks to your outstanding response – a total of 109,451,718 tweets, texts, calls and shares on Bell Let’s Talk Day 2014 – Bell will donate a further $5,472,585.90 to Canadian mental health programs”.
“Thank you everyone! I am just blown away by your incredible support for those struggling not only with mental illness but also with the stigma that still surrounds the disease. Talking openly and positively is the first and most important step we can take in promoting Canada’s mental health,” said Clara. “And wow did you talk, beating our target of 100 million messages and driving unprecedented donations to mental health by Bell. To think how far we’ve come in 4 years – from minimal attention to and even fear of discussing mental health to domination of the conversation. We talked all day, in every way, and we’re going to keep on talking to improve Canada’s mental health. I’m looking forward to the Big Ride!”
“When we embarked on the Bell Let’s Talk journey 4 years ago, making mental health the focus of Bell’s investment in the community, the cause was largely in the shadows. Mental illness just wasn’t an issue corporate Canada talked much about despite the incredible impact of the disease on individuals, families, workplaces and our national economy,” said George Cope, President and CEO of Bell Canada and BCE. “Now, everyone is overwhelmed by how deeply Canadians have embraced the cause, fighting the stigma by talking openly and positively and driving new funding for mental health care and research. Thank you Canada – your participation in Bell Let’s Talk Day 2014 brings our total current Bell Let’s Talk commitment to $67,515,875.20.”
Bell Let’s Talk Day 2014 results:
- Bell Let’s Talk Day 2014 resulted in a total of 109,451,718 messages, including tweets using #BellLetsTalk (3,016,621); Facebook shares (313,151); and text messages, mobile calls, and long distance calls by Bell and Bell Aliant customers (106,121,946) – an overall 14% increase over the 96,266,266 messages last year.
- Twitter propelled Bell Let’s Talk Day like never before, with #BellLetsTalk the top Twitter trend yesterday in Canadaand #3 in the world, and topics like mental health also trending throughout the day. The 3,016,621 tweets and retweets on Bell Let’s Talk Day 2014 were 93% more than the 1,562,485 sent in 2013.
- We thank the hundreds of thousands of Canadians from coast to coast to coast who supported the cause on Twitter including Governor General David Johnston, Prime Minister Stephen Harper, leaders of Canada’s political parties and other members of Parliament, provincial premiers and ministers, mayors and other civic leaders across Canada, hospitals and universities, the Canadian Armed Forces, Olympians, professional sports teams and players, major corporations including Bell competitors, and a broad range of Canadian and U.S. entertainers who drove hundreds of thousands of retweets from fans. To see a list of high-profile Bell Let’s Talk tweeters, please visit LetsTalk.Bell.ca.
Clara’s Big Ride for Bell Let’s Talk
Keeping the momentum from Bell Let’s Talk Day 2014 rolling, Clara Hughes will soon set out on Clara’s Big Ride for Bell Let’s Talk. Supporting local mental health initiatives by community groups, schools and other local organizations in every province and territory, Clara’s 110-day journey around Canada by bicycle begins March 14, spans 12,000 kilometres and will visit 95 Canadian communities, concluding in Ottawa on Canada Day, July 1. For more information, please visit Bell.ca/ClarasBigRide.
Thanks to all our partners
Bell Let’s Talk thanks the incredible array of Canadian corporations, associations and other organizations who helped spread the mental health message word through media, events and other promotions leading up to Bell Let’s Talk Day:
- Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television
- Banff World Media Festival
- Basketball Canada
- Bell Media
- Canadian Broadcasting Corporation/Radio-Canada
- CBS Outdoor
- Calgary Stampede
- Canadian Armed Forces
- Canadian Curling Association
- Canadian Media Production Association
- Canadian Olympic Committee
- Canadian Paralympic Committee
- Canadian Soccer Association
- Cineplex Inc.
- Cogeco/MetroMedia
- Festival d’été de Québec
- Festival International de Jazz de Montréal
- Francofolies
- The Globe and Mail
- Lamar Advertising
- La Presse/Gesca Limitée
- MLSE – Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment
- Monster Media
- Montréal Canadiens
- Montréal en Lumière
- National Basketball Association
- National Hockey League
- National Newswatch
- National Post/Postmedia Network
- Oshawa Generals
- Ottawa Senators
- Pattison Outdoor
- Rogers Communications
- Toronto International Film Festival
- Toronto Maple Leafs
- Toronto Raptors
- Toronto Star/Torstar Corporation
- Twitter Canada
- Vancouver Whitecaps FC
In addition, more than 150 Bell community and mental health partners, as well as chambers of commerce, colleges and universities across Canada helped spread the word through events, social media, websites, and newsletters.
Bell Let’s Talk in action
As part of this year’s campaign, Bell Let’s Talk recently announced 4 new mental health partnerships: A $2.5 milliondonation for Kids Help Phone to support the mental health of young people in Canada; the $1 million Bell Canada Chair in Adolescent Mood & Anxiety Disorders at Sunnybrook Hospital in Toronto; $225,000 for the Université LavalFoundation in Québec City to support student mental health; and, in partnership with Morneau Shepell and Queen’s University, Canada’s first university-certified workplace mental health training program in support of Canada’s National Standard for Psychological Health and Safety in the Workplace.
The $1-million annual Bell Let’s Talk Community Fund provides grants of $5,000 to $50,000 to local organizations, hospitals and agencies focused on improving access to mental health care in their communities in every region of Canada. Applications for the 2014 Fund are now open. To learn more please visit LetsTalk.Bell.ca.
