Kate: Mental Health Charities and Patronages

Canuck · February 10, 2015, 08:23:35 PM

Quote from: SophieChloe on February 10, 2015, 08:21:11 PM
Poor sausage can't win can she....:orchid: I reckon the month off from doing sweet FA should make up for it.

With some people, she really can't.

And again, if you're upset she's doing "sweet FA", then I don't understand why her doing some work makes you so angry. Her doing engagements is obviously better than her not doing engagements.

Canuck · February 10, 2015, 08:53:04 PM

I think if they wanted to mitigate criticism, they would have done better to choose an engagement that could be photographed and would be on the front of every newspaper. No one but Royal watchers is likely to pay much attention to this.

wannable · February 10, 2015, 09:15:28 PM

😄😂😜

On a serious note, she's going to be in the press feb. 12 and 18....RC Richard Palmer said some time ago last year that she can't make all her Royal engagements public, it would be saturating Kate in the papers, as his editor said she is the only Royal guaranteed to be published.

Canuck · February 10, 2015, 09:47:04 PM

Quote from: SophieChloe on February 10, 2015, 09:03:34 PM
Far too obvious. Kate hardly ever receives front pages here in the UK (the ones that are contributing to her lifestyle and comforts) - a couple at most. However, IMO these little snippets will give her faithfull followers reasons to believe she is doing something.

Quite a complex strategy. Send Kate out on a purely PR-driven engagement to combat bad press from her vacation but keep it private so that it only registers with people who already closely follow and like Kate (and thus probably aren't upset she took a vacation). I guess the best way to hide your PR strategy is to do things that no one would think make sense as a PR strategy. :shrug:

She made at least three UK front pages last time she did an engagement (Telegraph, Times, and Express), so I'd say that if she'd wanted to rustle up some good PR with the UK public -- presumably the audience she's targeting -- she could have done so pretty easily by doing a public engagement today instead of a private one.

HistoryGirl · February 10, 2015, 10:01:45 PM

Great for the kids. Glad to see attention paid to these causes Great angle to use Kate as a way to get attention to children's charities.

Lady Adams · February 10, 2015, 10:03:23 PM

Quote from: Canuck on February 10, 2015, 08:53:04 PM
I think if they wanted to mitigate criticism, they would have done better to choose an engagement that could be photographed and would be on the front of every newspaper. No one but Royal watchers is likely to pay much attention to this.

I think photos will eventually come out-- like her private visit to a hospice last year.

Canuck · February 10, 2015, 10:09:28 PM

It's entirely possible there will be pictures at some point. But as we saw with the example you mentioned, a visit doesn't get nearly the same press if a picture surfaces months after the event.

(Which is not to say that attracting lots of press for her engagements is a bad thing. Quite the contrary, as that's usually the goal -- to publicize the charity and help its fundraising. But sometimes there are reasons a particular engagement needs to be private (like protecting the privacy of the people who use the charity's services), and it just strikes me that those are particularly bad examples of "Kate only did this for the PR".)

Macrobug · February 10, 2015, 10:10:21 PM

Maybe not. These are kids actively receiving care for mental health issues. I don't think we will see photos of her with the kids

TLLK · February 10, 2015, 10:55:58 PM

Quote from: HistoryGirl on February 10, 2015, 10:01:45 PM
Great for the kids. Glad to see attention paid to these causes Great angle to use Kate as a way to get attention to children's charities.

I wholeheartedly agree. IMHO schools are the place where students can be identified for needing mental health services and where therapy can be delivered in a classroom, small group or individual setting. If any further interventions are needed then families can receive information from the service providers. :thumbsup:

Double post auto-merged: February 10, 2015, 10:57:08 PM

Quote from: Macrobug on February 10, 2015, 10:10:21 PM
Maybe not. These are kids actively receiving care for mental health issues. I don't think we will see photos of her with the kids

Only if the parents were to give permission and then they may opt to keep these sessions private. If we see any it might be Kate meeting with adult staff. :)

Lady Adams · February 10, 2015, 11:38:54 PM

Quote from: Canuck on February 10, 2015, 10:09:28 PM

(Which is not to say that attracting lots of press for her engagements is a bad thing. Quite the contrary, as that's usually the goal -- to publicize the charity and help its fundraising. But sometimes there are reasons a particular engagement needs to be private (like protecting the privacy of the people who use the charity's services), and it just strikes me that those are particularly bad examples of "Kate only did this for the PR".)

I don't think Kate only did these visits for the PR, but I think the timing if this one was convinent. From a Comms perspective, it helps quiet any criticism of her & Will's holidays this year and show her working.

TLLK · February 11, 2015, 04:28:59 AM

Quote from: Macrobug on February 10, 2015, 10:10:21 PM
Maybe not. These are kids actively receiving care for mental health issues. I don't think we will see photos of her with the kids

Just read through this again. Hospitalized for mental/emotional health issues at school age. The two school districts that I've worked for have had students who have needed to be in this type of setting. Hug your kids a little tighter today and thank you lucky stars. :( :no:

Macrobug · February 11, 2015, 04:43:41 AM

Children's Aid/Min of Social Services has a school/camp for at-risk kids, many who have mental health concerns, near by here. I see many of the kids in my clinic. More than one kid I have wanted to tuck in my pocket and make sure they are safe and taken care of. :hug:

TLLK · February 11, 2015, 03:26:05 PM

Quote from: Macrobug on February 11, 2015, 04:43:41 AM
Children's Aid/Min of Social Services has a school/camp for at-risk kids, many who have mental health concerns, near by here. I see many of the kids in my clinic. More than one kid I have wanted to tuck in my pocket and make sure they are safe and taken care of. :hug:

I understand the feeling Macrobug. Wanted to do the same when I was working. The second school I worked at didn't have the gang issues found at the first but we had an unusually high number of parents with mental health issues which understandably affected their own children.

Canuck · February 11, 2015, 05:31:08 PM

A tweet from one of the parents of a child Kate met yesterday:

Quote@KensingtonRoyal HRH Duchess of Cambridge visited Bethlem & Maudsley hospital school today.She met my daughter.Thank you for making her year

Sam on Twitter: "@KensingtonRoyal HRH Duchess of Cambridge visited Bethlem & Maudsley hospital school today.She met my daughter.Thank you for making

Glad that the kids enjoyed the visit!

HistoryGirl · February 11, 2015, 05:46:31 PM

That's sweet.

Canuck · February 11, 2015, 05:48:14 PM

And before anyone asks (because I'm sure someone will), I took a quick look at that twitter user's history: she's made a lot of posts about mental health and (separately) a bunch of references to her kids, and I didn't see anything talking about members of the BRF other than re-tweeting a joke Queen Elizabeth account.

Macrobug · February 11, 2015, 05:56:02 PM

:thumbsup: A Duchess visit may not be everyone's cup of tea but I am glad that Kate's visit was appreciated by this mom and enjoyed by this girl.

x-Goody2Shoes-x · February 11, 2015, 06:27:40 PM

Can someone please explain to me the purpose of secret visits? Is Kate a patron of this place? (Which I totally read as Bethlehem originally...) :teehee: I thought Royal visits helped raise interests, so was this private meeting just Kate visiting to see how it is, possibly taking on as a charity, etc? Or am I having a "blonde" moment?

Also, I understand the cynicism when private visits get leaked by the palace, comes across as attention grabbing. However, at least she's doing some work. Now if only she could increase this by roughly 98%, and I for one may whinge about her a little less! :wink:

Canuck · February 11, 2015, 06:37:30 PM

Quote from: x-Goody2Shoes-x on February 11, 2015, 06:27:40 PM
Can someone please explain to me the purpose of secret visits? Is Kate a patron of this place? (Which I totally read as Bethlehem originally...) :teehee: I thought Royal visits helped raise interests, so was this private meeting just Kate visiting to see how it is, possibly taking on as a charity, etc? Or am I having a "blonde" moment?

Kate was there in her role as patron of Place2Be, which provides mental health services to children in schools. (I assume it either does some work with this school, or is planning to do so.)

And yes, one of the big goals of a lot of Royal visits is to raise awareness and publicity. But that's not the only reason they do things, and I would guess the purpose of this visit was to (a) provide a little treat for the kids she met with and (b) give her a chance to learn about the work being done there, so that she has a deeper understanding of the mental health issues in schools that can be applied when working with her other charities. I think it's pretty safe to assume the reason it was not a media event is to respect the privacy of the children receiving treatment who Kate was meeting with -- there's a lot of stigma surrounding mental health issues, and children who are in an in-patient program are probably among the most vulnerable.

Edited to add: From the DM, this probably explains why Kate was at this particular school:

QuoteKate had listened to the school's headteacher Dr John Ivens, an educational psychologist, speak at the Place2Be conference on children's mental health in June.

Duchess in visit to hospital school | Daily Mail Online

Macrobug · February 11, 2015, 06:38:22 PM

These are not secret visits, they are unpublicized. The reasons for not publicizing the visits vary with the visit. My theory on why yesterday's visit was not announced ahead of time was because of the nature of the organization and the need for confidentiality. It is likely that this is an organization that Kate may be taking on as a patron or could becoming part of the Royal foundation.

Today's event was a reception and no need to publicize because it was a private event.

TLLK · February 11, 2015, 06:53:59 PM

Quote from: x-Goody2Shoes-x on February 11, 2015, 06:27:40 PM
Can someone please explain to me the purpose of secret visits? Is Kate a patron of this place? (Which I totally read as Bethlehem originally...) :teehee: I thought Royal visits helped raise interests, so was this private meeting just Kate visiting to see how it is, possibly taking on as a charity, etc? Or am I having a "blonde" moment?

Also, I understand the cynicism when private visits get leaked by the palace, comes across as attention grabbing. However, at least she's doing some work. Now if only she could increase this by roughly 98%, and I for one may whinge about her a little less! :wink:

IMO due to the setting of this visit, it was determined that a public visit with the flowers, press etc...would not be best for the patients. The patron could gain a better understanding of the work being done to provide care for those who must be hospitalized due to their mental/emotional illness. Place2Be provides ongoing support for kids with emotional/mental health issues so IMO their patron was seeing another aspect of mental healthcare. This is a wide range starting with those who could benefit from a small group therapy all the way to those who require a more restrictive environment.

Releasing the information keeps the public informed about what their patron has been doing and IMO gives Place2Be and the Bethlem and Maudsley Hospital School some publicity.

Macrobug · February 12, 2015, 12:42:58 PM

If you are not interested enough in the charities to look them up that is your problem. I don't see why a photo is going to make a person even more motivated. If anything, your comment underscores one of the possible reasons for not publishing the event ahead of time - to shine the spotlight on the charity and remove the focus off of "what did Kate wear". Because, quite frankly, that is the only thing missing. We get the rest of the info: the charity, the purpose and the fact Kate was doing something.

Canuck · February 12, 2015, 01:19:23 PM

Bringing attention to charities is a big part of what Royals do, but it's not the only thing. Visiting with staff and patients to give them a bit of a boost (especially when the patients are kids), learning about the organization to more effectively work with them/better understand the area they work in, undertaking private planning sessions, introducing groups to one another, etc. are also all things that Royals do.

HistoryGirl · February 12, 2015, 01:36:29 PM

So now there's an issue with Kate *not* posing for pictures at an event, yet still being at the charity... Sorry, @Macrobug, but a Pinball Wizard reference is forthcoming.

Macrobug · February 12, 2015, 02:01:18 PM

Sorry snokitty but I am not the person to ask if research gets done. I think it is pretty clear by now that I spend a great deal of my time looking up things and gathering more information. Again - if a person isn't motivated to learn more about something, Kate's clothing or waving isn't the thing to light a fire under them. And yes - once I read about the unannounced visit, I googled the charity. And I think a few others on the forum did also. That is why we had the discussion about children and mental health. Maybe you aren't but there are people here interested enough to do a little research about Kate's activities to understand what she is doing instead of immediately finding fault in all that she does.

LALALALALA......I have my fingers in my ears and I can't hear the pinball reference - go ahead @HistoryGirl. Make your comment :hehe: