Bell Let's Talk and Cisco to unite students around Canada in a national conversation about mental health on Bell Let's Talk Day

Bell Let's Talk and Cisco to unite students around Canada in a national conversation about mental health on Bell Let's Talk Day


Clara Hughes and Michel Mpambara will lead live webcasts linking schools
nationwide to encourage youth to talk about mental health



MONTREAL, Jan. 14, 2015 /CNW Telbec/ - Bell Let's Talk and Cisco today
announced that students from across the country will join Clara Hughes,
Canada's 6-time Olympic medalist and Bell Let's Talk national
spokesperson, and Québec spokesperson Michel Mpambara, in nationwide
webcast conversations about mental health on January 28 - the 5(th) annual Bell Let's Talk Day. Special guests will join Clara, Michel and
thousands of students at schools around the country in a live national
conversation to end the stigma around mental illness.



"I am thrilled that so many students from around Canada will be able to
join us directly in the conversation about mental health on Bell Let's
Talk Day," said Clara. "Together we can change the way we talk about
mental illness and help end the stigma that stops so many people from
seeking the help they need. We all have family, friends and colleagues
touched by mental illness, and I hope that by reaching so many young
Canadians we can help inspire them to make a positive difference in
people's lives."



On January 28, Clara will be at Jesse Ketchum Public School in Toronto
and Michel will be in Montréal at École secondaire Dalbé-Viau, speaking
with students and encouraging them to become champions for mental
health. Through Cisco high-definition video collaboration technologies,
Cisco TelePresence® and WebEx® Enabled TelePresence, youth from schools
around Canada will virtually join Clara, Michel and the students of
Jesse Ketchum and Dalbé-Viau for this unprecedented event.



In Toronto, Clara will be joined by TSN host Michael Landsberg and
comedian Kevin Breel. Joining Michel in Montréal will be Olympian Alex
Genest, Josiane Babin of the Mental Illness Foundation's Partners for
Life program, and NRJ radio and television host Anais Favron, who will
moderate the event.



"Clara and Michel have such a powerful and important message to share
with young people across Canada and Cisco is thrilled to help enable
this important conversation through our technology," said Willa Black,
Vice President of Corporate Affairs for Cisco Canada. "We believe there
is tremendous potential to end the stigma around mental illness by
connecting and empowering Canadian youth."



"We look forward to using the power of technology to welcome thousands
of students across the country as they join us in the conversation on
Bell Let's Talk Day," said Mary Deacon, Chair of Bell Let's Talk. "With
the examples of Clara and Michel leading the way, young people will be
encouraged to speak freely and share their stories to help end the
stigma of mental illness."



Cisco TelePresence technology creates a live, face-to-face communication
experience over the network that empowers participants to collaborate
like never before. Cisco TelePresence solutions help people meet, share
content, create high-quality video recordings and events, consult with
experts, and deliver powerful personalized services, all using the
power of the network for an immersive in-person experience. Cisco WebEx
Enabled TelePresence enables any user with a standards-based video
endpoint or WebEx client to join a meeting. Anyone, anywhere on any
video-enabled device, including smartphones and tablets, can join a
TelePresence meeting.


Join the conversation on Bell Let's Talk Day

On January 28, for every text message, wireless and long distance call
made by Bell Canada and Bell Aliant customers, every tweet using
#BellLetsTalk, and every Facebook share of that day's Bell Let's Talk
Day image at Facebook.com/BellLetsTalk, Bell will donate 5 cents more to Canadian mental health programs.



In 2014, Canadians answered the call with a total of 109,451,718
messages including texts, wireless and long distance calls, tweets and
Facebook shares, meaning Bell added another $5,472,585,90 to its Bell
Let's Talk funding commitment. Based on its original $50 million
donation and the results of the last 4 Bell Let's Talk Days, Bell has
now committed more than $67.5 million to Canadian mental health.



Bell's donations are made at no extra charge to Bell Let's Talk Day
participants, though normal long distance or text charges, if any,
apply.


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 and Université Laval Foundation.



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 the Bell Let's Talk campaign, and to download the
Bell Let's Talk toolkit to help get the conversation started, 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

About Cisco

Cisco (NASDAQ: CSCO) is the worldwide leader in IT that helps companies
seize the opportunities of tomorrow by proving that amazing things can
happen when you connect the previously unconnected. Cisco products and
services are supplied in Canada by Cisco Systems Canada Co., a wholly
owned subsidiary of Cisco Systems, Inc. For ongoing news, please go to http://thenetwork.cisco.com and http://newsroom.cisco.com/canada.


SOURCE Bell Canada

Bell Canada

CONTACT: Media inquiries: Jacqueline Michelis
Bell Media Relations
(613) 785-1427
jacqueline.michelis@bell.ca Jenn Geary
Cisco Canada
416.306.7365
jemadden@cisco.com


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