A spectacular day for Canada's mental health: A record 122,150,772 million tweets, texts, calls and shares on Bell Let's Talk Day - and a new Bell donation for mental health of $6,107,538.60

• Clara Hughes and the Bell Let's Talk team carried the mental health conversation across all media platforms and to school assemblies and local events across Canada
• #BellLetsTalk was the #1 trend on Twitter in Canada and #1 worldwide with 4,775,708 tweets - 58.3% more than last year
• Bell donates 5 cents for calls, text, tweets and shares on each Bell Let's Talk Day - this year's results grow Bell's total commitment to Canadian mental health to $73,623,413.80

MONTREAL, Jan. 29, 2015 /CNW Telbec/ - Bell Let's Talk Day 2015 set new records as Canadians everywhere joined Clara Hughes and the Bell Let's Talk team in the campaign that is sparking a worldwide conversation about mental health.

A record 122,150,772 calls, tweets, texts, calls and shares on Bell Let's Talk Day yesterday means Bell will donate a further $6,107,538.60 to Canadian mental health programs. With its original Bell Let's Talk donation of $50 million in 2010 and the results of the last 5 Bell Let's Talk Days, Bell has now committed $73,623,413.80 to Canadian mental health.

"Wow! Thank you everyone, everywhere! I am just in awe at your incredible support for the people in our lives and all around us who struggle with mental illness. You're part of the growing conversation that will ultimately free Canada from the stigma that surrounds mental illness," said Clara Hughes, Canadian Olympian and Bell Let's Talk national spokesperson. "We've made so much progress with Bell Let's Talk and the mental health movement over the past 5 years. There's much more to do to fight the stigma and help people get the help they need, and I cannot thank you enough for taking the mental health conversation further than ever before."

"Our most sincere thanks to Clara Hughes and the entire Bell Let's Talk team, including Michel Mpambara, Stefie Shock, Michael Landsberg, Howie Mandel, Mary Walsh, Kevin Breel, Shea Emry, Andrew Jensen, Alex Genest and Robb Nash, for sharing their personal stories and encouraging Canadians all around the country to join the mental health conversation," said Mary Deacon, Chair of Bell Let's Talk. "With so many individuals, government leaders, businesses and other organizations actively joining in, we're truly on our way to creating a stigma-free Canada."

"We know that mental illness touches all of us in some way, that it has a powerful impact on individual lives, on families, on our entire national economy. We're grateful that Canadians have embraced the mental health cause, with a level of engagement in this year's Bell Let's Talk Day and the anti-stigma message that was truly remarkable," said George Cope, President and Chief Executive Officer of Bell Canada and BCE. "As the top Twitter trend on the planet, with messages of support and hope from people around the globe, and the endorsement of international leaders and celebrities, this year's Bell Let's Talk Day really showed that there is universal desire for action in mental health. Once again, Canada leads the way."

Bell Let's Talk Day 2015 resulted in a total of 122,150,772 interactions in the 28.5 hours between midnight Newfoundland time and midnight Pacific time, including tweets using #BellLetsTalk, Facebook shares of the Bell Let's Talk image, and text messages, mobile calls and long distance calls by Bell Canada and Bell Aliant customers - an 11.6 % increase over the 109,451,718 total interactions on Bell Let's Talk Day last year.

#BellLetsTalk was the top Twitter trend yesterday in Canada and worldwide (up from #3 worldwide last year), with #stopthestigma, #endthestigma, #mentalhealthawareness and #sicknotweak trending throughout the day. The 4,775,708 total tweets and retweets on Bell Let's Talk Day 2015 were 58.3% more than the 3,016,621 sent in 2014.

Support came from leaders such as Governor General David Johnston, Prime Minister Stephen Harper, leaders of Canada's political parties and other members of Parliament, provincial and territorial premiers and ministers, mayors and other civic leaders across Canada, hospitals and universities, the Canadian Armed Forces, police and fire departments, Olympians, professional sports teams and players, major corporations and a broad range of the most high-profile Canadian and U.S. entertainers and other celebrities who drove hundreds of thousands of retweets from fans. To see these conversations, please visit Bell.ca/LetsTalk.

Bell Let's Talk extends sincere thanks and appreciation to the more than 200 Bell community and mental health partners, chambers of commerce, and schools, colleges and universities across Canada that joined the conversation through events, social media, websites, and newsletters.

We also thank the many corporations, media, sports teams and other organizations that helped promote the Bell Let's Talk anti-stigma message:

• Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television
• AOL Canada
• Banff World Media Festival
• Basketball Canada
• Calgary Stampede
• Canadian Armed Forces
• Canadian Curling Association
• Canadian Film Centre
• Canadian Media Production Association
• Canadian Olympic Committee
• Canadian Paralympic Committee
• Canadian Soccer Association
• Caribbean Carnival Toronto Festival
• Cinémas Guzzo
• Cineplex
• Cogeco / MetroMedia
• Culture Days
• Facebook
• Festival d'été de Québec
• Festival International de Jazz de Montréal
• Francofolies
• Hot Docs
• The Globe and Mail
• Google
• Lamar Advertising
• La Presse / Gesca
• Mediacity
• Metronews
• MLSE - Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment
• Montréal Canadiens
• Montréal en Lumière
• Monster Media
• National Basketball Association Canada
• National Football League Canada
• National Newswatch
• National Post / Postmedia Network
• Ottawa Senators
• Outfront Media
• Pattison Outdoor
• Radio-Canada
• Rogers Communications
• TELUS
• Toronto International Film Festival
• Toronto FC
• Toronto Maple Leafs
• Toronto Raptors
• Toronto Star / Torstar
• Twitter Canada
• Universal Music Canada
• Vancouver Whitecaps FC
• V Télé
• The Weather Network / Météomédia
• The Writers Guild of Canada
• Zoom Media

Bell Media marked Bell Let's Talk Day with more than 50 hours of special mental health-themed programming aired across its properties, including CTV, CTV Two, BNN, CP24, CTV News Channel, Discovery, E!, M3, Much, MTV, RDS, Space, TSN, CraveTV, and TheLoop.ca, as well as Bell Media digital, radio, and local TV platforms throughout the day.

That includes CLARA'S BIG RIDE, a powerful documentary chronicling Clara Hughes' epic 110-day bicycle journey to help build a Canada free of the stigma of mental illness. Aired in primetime on CTV and CTV Two on Bell Let's Talk Day, you can view CLARA'S BIG RIDE on CraveTV, CTV.ca and CTV GO.

5 simple ways to help end the stigma
We can all help end the stigma around mental illness with these 5 simple ways, developed in partnership with Dr. Heather Stuart of Queen's University, the world's first research chair in anti-stigma issues:

• Language matters - pay attention to the words you use about mental illness
• Educate yourself - learn, know and talk more, understand the signs
• Be kind - small acts of kindness say a lot
• Listen and ask - sometimes it's best to just listen
• Talk about it - start a dialogue, break the silence

The Bell Let's Talk mental health initiative
Bell Let's Talk promotes mental health based on 4 action pillars - anti-stigma, care and access, research, and workplace best practices. The initiative supports mental health leaders across the country including the Royal Ottawa Hospital, Institut universitaire en santé mentale de Montréal, Hôpital Charles-LeMoyne, Montreal Jewish Hospital, the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH), the University of British Columbia, the Douglas Mental Health University Institute, Queen's University, La Fondation du Centre hospitalier universitaire de Québec, Concordia University, Brain Canada, Kids Help Phone, Sunnybrook Hospital, Université Laval Foundation, CHU Sainte-Justine and, Vancouver General Hospital.

The annual Bell Let's Talk Community Fund supports front-line mental health organizations in every region of the country. The Fund has provided grants of $5,000 to $50,000 to hundreds of community organizations focused on improving access to programs and services that support people living with mental health issues.

To learn more about Bell Let's Talk, please visit Bell.ca/LetsTalk.

About Bell
Bell is Canada's largest communications company, providing consumers and business customers with wireless, TV, Internet, home phone and business communications services. Bell Media is Canada's premier multimedia company with leading assets in television, radio, out of home, and digital media. Bell is wholly owned by Montréal's BCE Inc. (TSX, NYSE: BCE). For more information, please visit Bell.ca

SOURCE Bell Canada