Breathe Hellas’s "Uniform of Hope" campaign, launched at a recent event at the Panathenaic Stadium in Athens ahead of the 2024 Olympic Games, is an athlete-led call to action to eliminate mental health stigma, promote open dialogue, and encourage young people to share their own stories.
The event unveiling the campaign was attended by Greek Minister of Health Adonis Georgiades, Deputy Minister of Mental Health Dimitrios Vartzopoulos, Hellenic Olympic Committee President and International Olympic Committee Member Spyros Capralos, and Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF) Programs Co-Director Alexandros Kambouroglou.
Breathe Hellas founder Tatiana Blatnik said, “Our sincere hope is that, just like the Olympic torch passed from athlete to athlete, we too inspire other teams and partners to join us. This is an invitation to athletes to join the movement, starting in Greece”.
On behalf of SNF, Alexandros said, “Since 2016, we at the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF) have been committed to strengthening health in Greece and worldwide, with mental health as a central focus, through the projects included in our Global Health Initiative (GHI). Breathe Hellas’s smart campaign is one such project, helping raise awareness and combat the deep shadow that stigma unfortunately still casts on our understanding of an issue that should be illuminated and discussed.”
The campaign features personal interviews recorded in May 2024 in which 28 Greek athletic champions and coaches share their stories, both triumphs and challenges. They talk about significant moments that define them, share their strengths and weaknesses, and describe the strategies they use alongside their physical training to maintain good mental health. The campaign will run online and in locations across Greece from July 16 to October 10.
Production and promotion of the campaign is supported by SNF as part of our GHI, as well as by The Hellenic Initiative, the Stelios Foundation, and the Petrochilos Foundation. The campaign was created under the auspices of the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Education, Religious Affairs and Sports, and the Hellenic Olympic Committee in collaboration with the Costas Stefanis University Mental Health Research Institute, Neurosciences, and Precision Medicine.