The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry to cheer on
London Marathon runners who will don headbands to help make it the
‘Mental Health Marathon’
- The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry will cheer on runners at the 2017 Virgin Money London Marathon as part of Heads Together, which is Charity of the Year
- Prince Harry has recorded a video messages for all 39,000 runners encouraging them to wear the Heads Together headband they will be given to help make it the ‘mental health marathon’
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry will attend this year’s London Marathon together for the first time to support runners taking part for their mental health campaign Heads Together, which is this year’s Charity of the Year for the Marathon. Heads Together wants to make this year’s marathon the ‘mental health marathon’ that gets the country talking about mental health and Their Royal Highnesses will cheer on all runners at points along the route.
Prince Harry has recorded message a video message for all 39,000 Virgin Money London Marathon runners letting them know that they will be given a special Heads Together headband which they can wear on race day to be part of the national movement to end the stigma around mental health once and for all.
In the message Prince Harry announced that all runners, whatever great cause they are running for, will receive their Heads Together headband when they pick up their race number and be able to wear it on race day to show how much mental health matters to us all. Prince Harry will attend the London Marathon Expo, where runners will collect their headbands, to encourage runners to wear them on race day. The headbands are being provided to the runners by Virgin Money, which is one of three Founding Partners of the Heads Together campaign.
Heads Together also announced today that everyone will be able to support the mental health marathon by wearing their own Heads Together headband on social media. A number of innovative ways that people can don a headband online to be part of the ‘mental health marathon’ will be announced in the coming weeks. To kick off the campaign to get as many people as possible wearing headbands to show their support, Heads Together and Twitter have unveiled a custom emoji of a smiley face wearing a Heads Together headband, which appears automatically when you use the hashtags #HeadsTogether #TeamHeadsTogether and #oktosay on the social media platform.
In the days leading up to the Marathon Heads Together headbands will pop up in a number of surprising places in London and online and The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge will attend a number of engagements aimed at getting the country talking about mental health.
Other engagements include:
– Duke of Cambridge to Attend BBC ‘Mind Over Marathon’ Screening
– Royals To Officially Open Global Academy
– Duchess to Host Team Heads Together Runners
In his message that is being sent to all 39,000 runners taking part in this year’s marathon, Prince Harry says:
“You’ve been training for months and the start line for the 2017 Virgin Money London Marathon is finally within sight. I’m sure it will be one of the most rewarding experiences of your life. William, Catherine and I will be there to cheer you all on.
“We want to use this moment to help end the stigma that stops people talking and change the conversation about mental health for good. You can make it the mental health marathon.
“We know that many of you will be running for some incredible charities because you have been directly affected by life-changing issues. You’ll recognise the emotional impact these can have, and how talking about it openly can help. We all have mental health, just as we all have physical health. You can all play your part in the biggest ever movement for mental health.
“Whatever cause you are running for, wear your vest with pride, and please wear your Heads Together headband too. Together we’ll get the whole country talking about mental health.
“Good luck and see you at the finish line”
To get all the latest royal news delivered straight to your door, why not subscribe to Royal Life Magazine today.
