This beautiful standard 12-round crochet mandala comes to the Mandalas for Marinke remembrance project from Rebecca in Michigan who says, “My deepest sympathy for the loss of a fellow crocheter.”
Did you see that Prince William and Princess Kate are working together to prevent suicide among young men? It’s actually part of a three-prong mental health initiative alongside Prince Harry to help young men, service members and children. Prince William “was confronted by male suicide when flying missions for his air ambulance charity” and has also seen the issue as it affects young homeless men, especially gay men, and it’s something that he wants to work to prevent.
As one part of the project, the royal couple met with Jonny Benjamin of the #findmike project. Jonny intended to die by suicide on a bridge but was interrupted by a stranger named Mike who saved his life that day. Years later, Jonny made an effort to “find mike” and they are working together to raise awareness of mental health issues. The royal couple helped bring attention to this project.
The lives of the royal couple were impacted by suicide a few years ago when their lives intersected with that of a nurse they didn’t know named Jacintha Saldanha. Princess Kate was in the hospital the woman worked at when a radio show called in with a stunt that convinced the nurse to play a part in giving out Kate’s private information. This of course went public and, apparently directly related to this experience, Saldanha died by suicide a few days later. Prince William wrote a letter to her family expressing sadness over the tragic situation.
Princess Kate is particularly concerned about the mental health and wellness of children. She has recently begun blogging on the issue as a guest contributor for Huffington Post.
This post is part of the Mandalas for Marinke project.