Algonquin College students launch mental health campaign to support The Royal

Students at Algonquin College are taking a stand against the stigma surrounding mental health with a series of events to raise money and awareness.

Algonquin College's public relations program launched the #ShatterTheSilence campaign Monday to raise funds for the Royal Ottawa Mental Health Centre.

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"Algonquin College public relations program, for the past 30 years, has been running charity campaigns to benefit local non-profit organizations," said Lois Caracas, an Algonquin College public relations student.

The campaign also aims to reduce mental health stigma.

"We believe that The Royal's work is very important, and we have researchers here," Caracas said. "They have been very involved with us. They benefit the community in ways that is far reaching. In addition to that, we believe that we ourselves and our community around us have a chance, have a hand in shattering the silence."

Dawson Richards, another student in the program, said the campaign's name reflects its goal.

"The reason for calling it Shatter the Silence is we're trying to promote meaningful conversations about mental health and eliminate the stigma that is attached to it," Richards said.

The campaign will feature four unique events over the next two weeks: Food for Thought, Garden and Grow, SereniTEA Café and Mic Drop the Silence. All events will help raise funds for The Royal.

"Since 1986, the students have raised more than $500,000 for local not-for-profits," said Bradley Moseley-Williams, a professor and coordinator of the public relations program. "It is one of the best things we do, and I'm really proud of my students today."

On Monday, students had the chance to experience some of the techniques used by The Royal to help patients overcome challenges, using a virtual reality headset.

"It essentially simulates a real-life environment where we can train our participants and clients on daily life skills that they usually struggle to do," said Ahmad Alftieh, a research coordinator at The Royal.

Many Canadians deal with mental illness each year. The Royal helps by providing important services and teaching about mental health. The students want to spread this message.

"We look for individuals throughout the community to help us raise awareness and fundraise for the great care and research at The Royal, and the fact that the Algonquin PR students have chosen us this year as their charity of choice this summer, and that they're going to spend the next two weeks raising funds and awareness for the work that we do with our clients and patients at The Royal, it just means the world to us," said Ingrid Gingras, vice-president of communications at The Royal.

Both Algonquin College and The Royal hope that events like this will encourage more people to speak up about their mental health and seek the support they need.

"We're afraid to talk about it, right? We're afraid to talk about what's going on and what's bothering us and how we're doing," Gingras said. "And so events like this and activities like this help us to destigmatize and help us to normalize the conversations that we want to have so that people can live their fullest lives."

For more information about the #ShatterTheSilence campaign, visit www.acprcampaign.com.