MONTREAL — Bell Canada announced today its 12th annual Bell Let’s Talk Day will be Jan. 26.
“As we continue to focus on action to increase awareness around mental health and mental illness, we encourage Canadians and people worldwide to keep listening, keep talking and keep being there for ourselves and each other,” reads a Bell press release.
As part of its Bell Let’s Talk Day mental health initiative, on Jan. 26 Bell will donate 5 cents to Canadian mental health programs for each text, local or long-distance call, tweet or TikTok video using the hashtag #BellLetsTalk, as well as for every Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Snapchat, TikTok, Twitter and YouTube view of the Bell Let’s Talk Day video, and every use of the Bell Let’s Talk Facebook frame or Snapchat lens.
Bell’s donations are made at no cost to participants beyond what they would normally pay their service provider for online or phone access, the release says.
Since the first Bell Let’s Talk Day in 2011, Bell has raised more than $121 million.
Some of the people supporting Bell’s mental health initiative include Friends of Bell Let’s Talk, who share their personal stories about living with mental illness, as well as several spokespeople including Olympian and Bell Let’s Talk founding spokesperson Clara Hughes, Étienne Boulay, Marie-Soleil Dion, Michael Landsberg, Howie Mandel, Michel Mpambara, Stefie Shock and Mary Walsh.
Bell Let’s Talk community ambassadors include actress Véronique Bannon, retired CFL player Shea Emry, TV host and author Joanie Gonthier, comedian Jessica Holmes, pro golfer Andrew Jensen and musician Florence K.
Bell Media’s English and French language programming on Bell Let’s Talk Day will include a special episode of Etalk and two French documentaries — Maman, pourquoi tu pleures? (Mom, Why Are You Crying?) available on Crave, Canal Vie and Noovo.ca, and La santé mentale dans le sport professionnel (Mental Health in Professional Sports) on Noovo and available on RDS at a later date.
In addition, the 2022 nationwide Bell Let’s Talk Day multimedia campaign includes videos to encourage Canadians to support themselves and each other.
An updated Bell Let’s Talk toolkit and conversation guides can be downloaded at Bell.ca/LetsTalk.
“As we prepare to mark the 12th annual Bell Let’s Talk Day, I am pleased to announce Bell’s commitment to continued leadership in workplace mental health with unlimited mental health benefit coverage for Bell team members and their eligible family members,” said Mirko Bibic, president and CEO of Bell Canada and BCE, in the press release.
“The past two years have been challenging times for everyone and I encourage all Canadians and people everywhere to join us for the world’s biggest conversation about mental health on January 26,” Bibic said.
“Working together in communities large and small all around the country, we have made great progress in moving mental health forward and increasing awareness about mental illness,” said Mary Deacon, chair of Bell Let’s Talk.
“On Bell Let’s Talk Day and throughout the year it’s so important to keep listening, keep talking and keep being there for ourselves and each other to make a lasting difference in the lives of so many people impacted by mental illness.”
Bell also announced it will soon launch the 2022 Bell Let’s Talk Community Fund, the company’s $2-million annual program that provides grants of up to $25,000 for local and grassroots mental health initiatives.
Other Bell Let’s Talk announcements for 2022 will include the new recipients of the Bell Let’s Talk Diversity Fund, which supports the mental health and well-being of Black, Indigenous and people of colour (BIPOC) communities across Canada.
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Image borrowed from the Bell Let’s Talk Facebook page.
