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The Duchess Wears Sandro for Call with Shout Volunteers

Today Kensington Palace released screengrabs from a videocall the Duke and Duchess did with volunteers from Shout.

Wednesday’s call celebrated the one-year anniversary of the crisis texting service that immediately connects people facing crisis situations with volunteers.  It is designed to encourage people to reach out for help at an early stage, without fear or shame.

Shout is modeled after the Crisis Text Line in the US, which has been operating since 2013.  It is a legacy project of the Heads Together campaign and was launched last May by the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Duke and Duchess of Sussex using a £3 million investment from the Royal Foundation.  This week Meghan and Harry joined a call with Crisis Text Line volunteers in the US.  You may remember Kate and William attending a celebration for Shout volunteers in November.

Some bullet points about the service’s success: 

  • As of 1 May 2020, 1,800 Shout Crisis Volunteers have had more than 300,000 text conversations since the service launched.
  • Since the UK lockdown was announced, Shout’s trained Crisis Volunteers have taken an increase of 6,000 text conversations.
  • The main issues raised by texters are suicide (34%), depression (34%), anxiety (32%), relationship (27%), loneliness (18%) and self-harm (15%).
  • The busiest period for text conversations on the 24/7 service is between 8-10pm and on any given day.

During the call, the royals heard from five volunteers as well as Shout Chief Executive Victoria Hornby.  Prince William said, “You guys are the trailblazers, you have been doing a fantastic job keeping Shout moving forward, so well done and thank you for all your hard work; we really appreciate it.” 

In the top row above, you see (l to r) Jo Irwin, Alexis Caught, and Jo Booth. In the second row, CEO Victoria Hornby, Michelle Fernandes, and Kiel McPhillips.  During Wednesday’s call, the royals heard from volunteers about their experiences while providing support to those texting Shout. Alexis Caught said, “The unique support that Shout is able to provide to people in crisis is crucial at all times, but now more than ever it can serve as a lifeline to those most in need – whatever they’re going through, big or small.”  

Here is the full 5-minute video released by the Palace. 

Shout is launching a new campaign to promote its text number. Kensington Palace reports the #Shout85258 challenge “will see a host of people forming the shape of the 85258 text number with their hands to create videos to upload on to social media platforms.” To kick off the campaign, the Palace is doing something we’ve not seen previously: the Kensington Royal Instagram stories will be taken over by a volunteer tomorrow (Saturday the 16th) who will post unique content including videos from volunteers and doing Q&As. 

Last month the organization launched a new initiative called Our Frontline for key workers providing one-to-one support by call or text.

In addition to that round-the-clock support from trained volunteers, Frontline also offers mental health resources, ideas, and tips. Below, a tweet about Frontline. 

We recently launched @OurFrontlineUK to help support keyworkers with round the clock mental health support. To date, we have held 915 conversations with Our Frontline workers? @HussainManawer @MindCharity @hospiceuk @KensingtonRoyal @heads_together @samaritans pic.twitter.com/08SI4RaGS6

Now for a quick review of what Kate wore during the call. She appeared to be wearing the Cecil Scalloped Short-Sleeved Cardigan ($220) from a brand we first saw her in last July, Sandro Paris

The piece is a blend of viscose and polyamide, done in an allover ribbed knit. It has a slim fit with a slightly cropped silhouette, the scalloped vee-neck, logo buttons, and short sleeves. It is also available in black at Bloomingdale’s ($220) and at Sandro’s US site ($220). Many thanks to Heaver for the sweater ID

We first saw Kate wearing Sandro at the unveiling of her Back to Nature Garden at the Hampton Court Palace Garden Festival in July of last year (below left).  She also wore a sweater by Sandro when arriving at the King’s Cup Regatta in August (right). 

The Paris-based brand, founded in 1984, remains a favorite of fashionistas around the world. Below, spring 2020 ensembles

Below, several designs from the spring dress line.   

Like several other fashion brands, Sandro is offering a charity tee shirt. In the US, all proceeds go to the American Red Cross; in other countries, proceeds are donated to the International Red Cross). The design was chosen by the retailer’s Instagram followers.   

The Duchess also appeared to have on her Catherine Zoraida Fern Drop Earrings ($213/£165), shown below as worn on a previous occasion.

Don’t forget to vote for your favorite new day dress worn by the Duchess in 2019!  

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Seh

Monday 18th of May 2020

Oh & I meant to say I can really see the DOC in that gorgeous pleated coat & beautiful printed dress in the first & second Sandro "spring ensemble" pictures. And ALL the day dresses. Tailored perfection: sigh! The coat brings to mind that other gorgeous MIA trench....the ruffled Burberry!

Seh

Monday 18th of May 2020

The ponytail & makeup are lovely, & she looks nice in a white tee. I agree with Hrhdhd, in that I liked it more before I saw how cropped it was! I think in general really cropped tops can look shrunken on Kate, due to her long waist. I know this point is often speculated on. It occured to me to wonder if, being so slim, tops that fit in width may look a bit short in length...sometimes sleeves as well. Hence the shrunken look sometimes commented on in blazers etc, such as the Shout ensemble last year (which I hadn't seen before but overall did really like). Of course this is only relevant to off the shelf, not bespoke, but I've often wondered how a small size is supposed to fit everyone from a petite person to a 6 foot supermodel! Kate does look v refreshed & well here, & speaking out in appreciation of a great organisation. I think she is loving being home in the country. I remember years ago a school mate or similar saying Kate's dream was always to live in the country surrounded by lots of animals & children: she was not the corporate or city type. So its lovely to see her living that dream, although I'm sure she wishes it was under different circumstances!

OG SG

Sunday 17th of May 2020

It's a cute top, and I've really been liking her hair and makeup in quarantine. Whether she is doing it herself or just going for a more understated look, she looks much more youthful in these videos. I hope she sticks with it...she looks great.

Sue

Saturday 16th of May 2020

I like the idea of the little top - feature neckline and the buttons to add interest, visual impact and it suits Catherine. It offers a nice clean line to go with the pulled back hair. As others have said, for what it is - and what it is made from - is very pricey.

Sandro does interesting styles, I have been tempted in the Summer or Winter Sales here in the UK myself. However, first check by me for any clothing buy (sale or full price) is always the 'ingredient' label: Sandro consistently fails due to their use of synthetic materials, hardly any natural textiles.

Diane

Saturday 16th of May 2020

I love everything about the Duchess in this screen grab, she looks both approachable and elegant. The scallops add interest to the simply lovely cardigan. Though I don't like it nearly as well on the model as that length of sleeve is unflattering on the vast majority of women but possibly not on the Duchess. As always, she looks wonderful with her hair up.

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