With Material From https://letstalk.bell.ca/en/
Wednesday, January 29 marks Bell Canada’s tenth annual “Let’s Talk” Day.
Over that decade, the initiative has spurred a nation-wide discussion – and destigmatization – of mental health topics.
The program’s website notes:
“Bell Let’s Talk launched in 2010 with a focus on building awareness, acceptance and action in mental health. Since then Canadians have taken the conversation around mental health to remarkable heights, making it clear that mental health matters.
“In a recent survey conducted by Nielsen Consumer Insights in 2019, 84 percent of Canadians now say they are comfortable speaking with others about mental health, compared to only 42 percent in 2012. It’s time to build on that increased awareness and acceptance, and put a greater focus on action to create positive change in our schools, workplaces, and communities.
“Dedicated to moving mental health forward in Canada, Bell Let’s Talk promotes awareness and action with a strategy built on four key pillars: fighting the stigma, improving access to care, supporting world-class research, and leading by example in workplace mental health.”
The national telecommunications company has also coupled fundraising with its awareness campaign. The past ten years of Let’s Talk Days have seen Bell contribute $100.7 million to mental health institutions and organizations, generated one nickel at a time from texts, phone-calls, tweets, social media video views, and the use of Facebook frames and Snapchat filters.
You’ll see a number of Let’s Talk participation projects at the college tomorrow. Look for the Student Representative Council (SRC) to be “Let’s Talking” at its info-table in the first floor hallway’s alcove area. And tomorrow night’s “Fan Appreciation Night” varsity volleyball game at the SportsPlex (Saints versus Fanshawe Falcons) will see the Student Athletic Association promoting Let’s Talk.
The major mental health event of the week takes place on the following day (Thursday the 30th), when the SRC presents “Walk Off The Earth” singer Sarah Blackwood in the Student Life Centre at 4 p.m.. In addition to an acoustic music performance, she will discuss her anti-bullying and mental health advocacy. Tickets for that event are available at https://www.showpass.com/sarah-blackwood/.
For more information about mental health services (including emergency hot-lines) at the college, visit https://www.stclaircollege.ca/student-services/counselling-services
For community/national mental health services, visit https://letstalk.bell.ca/en/get-help/
