Charity Spotlight: Shout 85258
Shout 85258 — the UK’s only 24/7 text message support service for anyone who is struggling to cope — is thrilled to be launching on Streamlabs to help raise vital funds to support lifesaving conversations.
Shout 85258 is the UK’s only 24/7 text message support service for anyone who is struggling to cope. It is free, confidential and anonymous. Anyone in the UK can start a conversation with a trained volunteer any time of the day or night by texting ‘SHOUT’ to 85258.
“When I texted I didn’t know how I was going to get through the next 10 minutes but now I can see the future better and feel so much better.” — Texter feedback
Every day, Shout takes around 1,500 conversations with children, young people and adults seeking help with anxiety, depression, suicidal thoughts, loneliness, relationships, sexuality, racism, bullying, body image and more.
Since launching in 2018, Shout Volunteers have taken more than 930,000 conversations with more than 360,000 people needing ‘in the moment’ support. More than 35.8 million text messages have been exchanged.
The immediacy of Shout can prevent mental health crises by supporting people at the very point they need it. 75% of people text us outside the hours of 9am-5pm, so we’ve trained 7,000 volunteers in the UK and New Zealand to provide unbroken support to the UK population round the clock.
“Thanks very much for helping me to de-escalate the panic attack. It was really helpful to have someone to help me move out of the moment.” — Feedback from young adult texter
Two-thirds of our texters are under the age of 25. Not only is text a preferred means of communication for young adults, but the service is free, confidential and anonymous, available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and provides a silent way to communicate — no matter where you are, what you’re doing or who is around.
The Covid-19 pandemic has taken a devastating toll on the nation’s mental health and has sent demand for support skyrocketing. As a digital service, Shout was one of the few mental health services able to operate as normal during the pandemic, and our conversation numbers doubled.
“You helped me get through a difficult moment to a calmer, more hopeful one. I can’t put into words how much a simple conversation helped.” — Feedback from young adult texter during lockdown
It is forecast that 1.5 million young people and 8.5 million adults will need support for their mental health as a direct result of the pandemic over the next three to five years.
We want to ensure that Shout 85258 is here 24/7 for anyone who needs mental health support.
We need your help to keep the conversation going. You can start a fundraiser for Shout 85258 today.
Every donation makes a difference:
- £5 can help us have a lifesaving conversation with someone in need of urgent support 24/7
- £10 can help someone in distress access an hour of mental health support from a trained volunteer
- £25 can fund a clinician to provide expert supervision of conversations on our digital mental health platform
- £50 can help fund 5 text conversations with people across the UK struggling to cope
- £250 can train a volunteer to take lifesaving conversations with people needing immediate support
“Shout has helped me keep myself going when I didn’t want to be here anymore. I have accessed Shout countless times and can honestly say it has saved my life.” — Feedback from teenage texter
Additional links:
- Find out more about Shout 85258.
- Start a charity stream for Shout 85258 on Streamlabs.
- Install the free Shout 85258 overlays and widgets in Streamlabs Desktop.
- Add the Shout 85258 alerts into other broadcasting software
- Follow Shout 85258 on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, TikTok and YouTube.
- Shout 85258 is powered by Mental Health Innovations, a digital mental health charity improving the mental health of the UK population. Find out more about Mental Health Innovations.
