Duke and Duchess of Cambridge to meet Attitude Pride Award winner Jonny Benjamin
By Will Stroude
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge will meet mental health campaigner and Attitude Pride Award winner Jonny Benjamin tomorrow (March 10) as they support efforts to raise awareness of mental health and suicide in young men.
Will and Kate are set to meet Jonny – who made headlines around the world in 2014 after orchestrating the infamous #FindMike appeal to help find the man who stopped him from throwing himself off Waterloo Bridge six years before – at St Thomas’ hospital in London, where he was sectioned following the suicide attempt.
Also in attendance will be the man who stopped Jonny from taking his own life on that fateful day – not a Mike, it transpired, but Neil Laybourn.
Mental health campaigner Jonny Benjamin (l), and the man to whom he owes his life, Neil Laybourn (r)
After speaking to Jonny, who just last month launched a series of mental health workshops for schoolkids, the Duke and Duchess will travel to Kensington Palace, where they will drop in on a screening of a documentary about his story and the #FindMike campaign.
Children from one of the schools taking part in Jonny’s mental health workshop series ‘ThinkWell’ have been invited to weatch the screening, before discussing the topic od mental health with Jonny, Neil, and charity Rethink Mental Illness. The Royal Highnesses will later join a private discussion group with those who have been bereaved by suicide.
Jonny was among the raft of unsung LGBT heroes to be honoured at last year’s inaugural Attitude Pride Awards, designed to give back to those everyday people who work towards better the community.
We’re currently accepting nominations for this year’s awards, so if you know someone who deserves to be applauded for something they’ve done to better the life of LGBT people, nominate them here now.
If you’ve been affected by any of the issues mentioned and need an impartial advice or support service, call the Samaritans free on 116 123, or visit their website samaritans.org.
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