THE DUKE OF CAMBRIDGE WILL ATTEND THE ROYAL FOUNDATION EMERGENCY SERVICES MENTAL HEALTH SYMPOSIUM AND ANNOUNCE BLUE LIGHT TOGETHER MENTAL HEALTH SUPPORT PACKAGE
London
Thursday, 25th November 2021
The Duke of Cambridge will attend The Royal Foundation’s Emergency Services Mental Health Symposium in London on Thursday 25th November. The event will be the first time that senior leaders from the emergency services from across all four nations will come together to address the mental health of their workforces.
During the symposium, the Duke will announce the ambitious Blue Light Together package of mental health support for the emergency services, developed by The Royal Foundation and partner organisations.
Hosted in partnership with the National Police Chiefs’ Council, National Fire Chiefs Council, Association of Ambulance Chief Executives and United Kingdom Search and Rescue, the symposium will bring together emergency service leaders, frontline workers, policy makers and academics. It will include a live panel session involving senior emergency services leaders who will talk about their personal experience of mental health, alongside keynote speeches by Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, Dame Cressida Dick, and the Duke of Cambridge.
Supporting the mental health and wellbeing of the emergency services community is an important priority for the Duke of Cambridge and The Royal Foundation. Having witnessed first-hand the unique challenges this community faces on a daily basis through his roles as both an Air Ambulance and RAF Search and Rescue pilot, the Duke is uniquely placed to act on this issue.
His Royal Highness convened an Emergency Responder Senior Leaders Board in response to research commissioned by The Royal Foundation in 2018, conducted by King’s College London and the Open University, which identified a need for greater sharing of ‘better practice’ across the emergency services sector to best support the mental health of its workforces.
The Duke has been working closely with the Emergency Responder Senior Leaders Board and charity partners, informed by this research. Together, they have been working to identify solutions and best practice to ensure that emergency responders and their families can access the advice and support relevant to the unique challenges they face, including providing immediate support to front line charities during the Covid-19 pandemic.
The symposium will provide an opportunity to present Blue Light Together to senior emergency services leaders, with further details of this ambitious package of mental health support for our emergency responders to be announced at the event.
Speaking With Emergency Responders on Mental Health and Support
In this personal conversation, which was recorded last week, The Duke, Will and Chloe share their experiences of working as emergency responders and the mental health impact that this can have. They also discuss coping mechanisms and the need for emergency responders to be given the tools and support to be able to cope.
The film will be played at the Symposium, which will see 200 leaders from across fire, ambulance, police, and search and rescue from all four nations come together for the first time to address the mental health of their workforces.
