Notts County’s On The Ball and Right Mind projects improving the mental health of 100’s of people

Notts County are proving that Football Clubs can have a positive impact on the mental health of their communities with more than one project focused on an individual’s wellbeing. 

County’s two mental health projects ‘On The Ball’ and ‘Right Mind’ have successfully improved the mental health of 100’s of people across the county of Nottingham.

These projects provide a unique service in a non-clinical environment, and reach out to members of the public who may be put off from seeking assistance from more formal and assessment-based service.

On The Ball

“On The Ball gives me the motivation to get up and go which the medication takes away”.  Dan has been a participant on On the Ball for over 5 years. See how the long standing project has helped him with his mental health journey. 

On the Ball works with men over the age of 18 who suffer from a variety of mental health issues.

Using football as a way to engage participants, Notts County deliver mental health promotion messages, helping people understand their feelings and help them communicate.  The project uses current, high-profile football examples in a half-time team talk to encourage participants to open up about topics around stress, anger management, communication, depression and anxiety, amongst others.

The project has been extremely successful, attracting large numbers of hard-to-reach participants, securing funding from high-profile charitable trusts and retaining participants who have a strong affiliation to the project.

Right Mind

Helen describes the Right Mind project as “life saving” after living with depression and ADHD. She talks about her experience here.

Right Mind is a women’s mental health and wellbeing programme which is perfect for women who want to improve their mental health, boost their energy levels and meet new people.

This is a free physical activity and social session. It is delivered in a fun and comfortable environment. The sessions vary depending on what the group wants to do from week to week.

To find out more visit: https://nottscountyfitc.org.uk/

Mind

Mind are the official charity partner of EFL. With over 21 million fans attending EFL matches each season (and 55 million watching on TV), this partnership is a brilliant opportunity for us to promote awareness and understanding of mental health amongst football fans, and to help more people living with mental health problems access the support they need.

Together we are harnessing the power of football to raise awareness of mental health, improve the approach to mental health in sport and raise funds to deliver life changing national and local support.

www.Mind.org.uk/OnYourSide

Text FOOTBALL to 70660 to donate £3 to Mind, and help make sure no one has to face a mental health problem alone.

Wigan Athletic Community Trust supporting the health and wellbeing of veterans thanks to Football 4 Forces programme

Wigan has one of the largest groups of ex-service people living in the North West and Wigan Athletic are a proud supporter of this community, however many veterans can face a range of challenges readjusting to civilian life, including depression, poor health and unemployment.

Taking place every Monday night from 5.30pm-7pm at Robin Park Arena, Wigan Athletic Community Trust’s Football 4 Forces programme provides free football activities for some of these veterans, and aims to improve their health and wellbeing, as well as helping them to feel less socially isolated.

Football 4 Forces participants also have the opportunity to complete coaching qualifications and become volunteers for the Community Trust, while lifestyle workshops are held to raise awareness of subjects such as diet, nutrition, healthy eating and the dangers of drug and alcohol.

Colin Carruthers and Jeff Derbyshire are two veterans that both testify to the difference the programme has made to their lives.

“I’ve been taking part in Football 4 Forces for over 12 months and I’ve had some of the best times of my life,” said Jeff, 49, who left the Army in 1992 after eight years’ service. “It’s given me the opportunity to meet new people who obviously have a similar background to myself and it’s been great mixing and just interacting with them.

“The scheme is a way of keeping fit, but the big thing for me is meeting the other lads because so many of them have done some amazing things during their lives and have great stories to share.”

Wigan Athletic Community Trust at the Football 4 Forces session at The Youth Zone in Wigan.

Since leaving the Army, Jeff has faced a number of challenges, including being homeless for a short while and struggling with alcohol problems, but his involvement with Football 4 Forces is now helping him to improve his health.

“I’ve stopped smoking because of this programme and have taken part in the Wigan 10k too, so the health benefits have been incredible for me. The run was something I didn’t think I could do so I was proud of myself for completing that.

“I’ve got a lot fitter and a lot healthier and my life is much more positive now. I’m feeling younger and fresher and I have so much to thank Wigan Athletic Community Trust for.”

Colin, 39, joined the military as an 18-year-old in 1997, but his period of service ended prematurely due to an accident. When he returned to Wigan he was looking for something to get involved in when he heard about Football 4 Forces.

“I came back to Wigan and saw Football 4 Forces advertised so went along to a session to see what it was all about. I’ve got to be honest and say I was blown away by it all and just how good it was, so I’ve been going ever since and haven’t really looked back.

“I often get asked what the best thing about it is, and for me the answer is I feel part of a community, and that’s massive. I can’t recommend this programme enough.”

Since joining the project Colin has gained his FA Level 1 and 2 coaching qualifications and is now working towards his Level 3.

“The sessions aren’t all about football though because they also highlight subjects such as nutrition and drug and alcohol awareness. That’s a big thing because a lot of veterans do come out and go down slippery paths, but this programme steers you into not doing anything silly.”

One of the main appeals for Football 4 Forces participants is working with a professional football club – something Colin is particularly keen on.

“I’m a Wigan Athletic fan myself so I love representing my club. To wear the Latics badge and play for the club in a veterans programme is a boyhood dream for me. Football 4 Forces really has been the best thing that’s happened to me since I left the military.”

Please email [email protected] or call 01942 318090 for more information about Football 4 Forces.

Mind

Mind are the official charity partner of EFL. With over 21 million fans attending EFL matches each season (and 55 million watching on TV), this partnership is a brilliant opportunity for us to promote awareness and understanding of mental health amongst football fans, and to help more people living with mental health problems access the support they need.

Together we are harnessing the power of football to raise awareness of mental health, improve the approach to mental health in sport and raise funds to deliver life changing national and local support.

www.Mind.org.uk/OnYourSide

Text FOOTBALL to 70660 to donate £3 to Mind, and help make sure no one has to face a mental health problem alone.

Benjamin’s Story: Building Confidence Through Football

Benjamin has gone from the boy without the confidence to talk to anyone, to the man coaching the sessions in less than a year thanks to Aston Villa’s ‘Think Football’ project.

Benjamin joined Think Football, which is Villa’s mental health and wellbeing football project, in 2017. Ben has mild learning difficulties and suffers with psychosis, which effects his mental health causing a range of symptoms including anxiety and depression.

Ben lives in supported housing and often relies on a support worker for everyday situations. Prior to joining Think Football, he was very introverted, not comfortable in social situations and rarely involved in external activities.

Ben’s support worker suggested that the Think Football sessions would work for Ben as they offer support for a wide range of mental health issues.  His support worker accompanied Ben at the beginning and he soon became a regular weekly attendee.

When Ben first started the sessions, he was extremely quiet and would not make eye contact with anyone he did not know. Gradually as the sessions progressed he was able to come in and say hello to all the staff and hold a conversation with eye contact.

Ian Robinson, Aston Villa Foundation Coach who has known Ben from day 1 commented: “When Ben started he was very quiet and shy but since taking part in Think Football he has become more confident and outgoing”.

During the programme, Ben not only started to develop his football skills but also improved his communication and social skills.

A few months after first attending, Ben had begun to make friends through the programme, and was invited with some of the other members of the sessions to go to the cinema.  His support worker said it was a massive step forward and made him feel accepted within a group.

Over the last few months he has started attending the sessions on his own, making his own way from home to the sessions and back again. When the coaches asked for anyone who wanted to step up and support by taking a warm up, Ben surprised everyone by volunteering to have a go.

In April this year, Villa offered participants the chance to complete a fully funded FA Level 1 as part of the programme. Ben immediately volunteered and due to his commitment and the personal journey was selected to complete the course. Due to his learning difficulties Villa provided some extra support to complete the online part of the course.

Thanks to a lot of hard work he completed his FA Level 1. He said: ‘The Level 1 has helped me to design fun and engaging football sessions so that I can assist at Think Football. It has made me feel more organised and confident to do more things.”

Ben has shown himself to be a good level 1 coach, and is now supporting Villa’s Think Football sessions. With mentoring support from our coaches, he will go on to develop further and would like to complete his FA Level 2.

Mind

Mind are the official charity partner of EFL. With over 21 million fans attending EFL matches each season (and 55 million watching on TV), this partnership is a brilliant opportunity for us to promote awareness and understanding of mental health amongst football fans, and to help more people living with mental health problems access the support they need.

Together we are harnessing the power of football to raise awareness of mental health, improve the approach to mental health in sport and raise funds to deliver life changing national and local support.

www.Mind.org.uk/OnYourSide

Text FOOTBALL to 70660 to donate £3 to Mind, and help make sure no one has to face a mental health problem alone.

Cambridge United’s ‘Mind Your Head’ project creates significant results in Mental Health literacy in schools

Earlier this year, Cambridge United Community Trust (CUCT) established a secondary school mental health project to improve wellbeing and help young people deal better with stress and anxiety and this week, an evaluation of the project, conducted by Leeds Beckett University, reveals statistically significant improvements in mental health literacy are made as a result of the programme, across all genders and ethnicities.

The greatest improvements were seen across questions including increasing understanding of dealing with stress, the causes of poor mental health and recognising the signs of poor mental health.

The ‘Mind Your Head’ pilot has been running since January 2018 in six central Cambridge secondary schools and reached over 500 young people by the end of the school summer term.

The project is part of Cambridge United’s wider commitment to promoting positive mental health at the club and in the community.

‘Mind Your Head’ is delivered through CUCT in partnership with Cambridge youth mental health charity ‘Centre 33’. The programme provides lessons that destigmatize mental health, educate young people about how to deal with stress and also encourage young people to discuss how social media can both positively and negatively affect their wellbeing.

Report author Professor Jonathan Glazzard said: “Mind Your Head is a great example of the education sector working with a Football Club in their community to improve an issue of vital importance.

“Many people are still reluctant to talk about their mental health, so it’s empowering when footballers talk publically about their issues, such as stress and looking after their own mental health.

“They tend to have experienced their own mental health issues: athletes have a perfectionist trait that provides them with the motivation to succeed, but also has drawbacks in terms of the associated pressures.

“The work being undertaken in Cambridge has shown significant improvements in mental health literacy among the pupils involved. This sort of initiative, carried out on a national scale, could only help improve knowledge and understanding of mental health among school children.”

Josh Turner, one of the pupils who took part from Trumpington Community College said: “Footballers coming in to tell us about mental health is actually quite profound because they are people that young people look up to as their idols.

“The footballers telling us that they sometimes struggle with their mental health is good to listen to and good for our own understanding.”

Sam Squire, a Cambridge United scholar who has been actively involved at schools said: “It’s important for Cambridge United to focus on mental health in schools as that’s when issues such as social media can challenge a young person’s confidence and resilience.

“As a football club we can hopefully use our respected position in society to help promote positive mental health.”

Information from Leeds Beckett University and the full evaluation can be read here: http://d269m6jxkto3yp.cloudfront.net/assets/files/1230/mind_your_head_evaluation_report.pdf

Mind

Mind are the official charity partner of EFL. With over 21 million fans attending EFL matches each season (and 55 million watching on TV), this partnership is a brilliant opportunity for us to promote awareness and understanding of mental health amongst football fans, and to help more people living with mental health problems access the support they need.

Together we are harnessing the power of football to raise awareness of mental health, improve the approach to mental health in sport and raise funds to deliver life changing national and local support.

www.Mind.org.uk/OnYourSide

Text FOOTBALL to 70660 to donate £3 to Mind, and help make sure no one has to face a mental health problem alone.

Tranmere Rovers’ ‘Kip On The Essar Kop’ raises over £10,000 for homeless charities

Over 50 people gave up their Friday night last week to raise very important money and awareness for several local charities across the Wirral.

Tranmere Rovers In The Community’s ‘Kip On The Essar Kop’ is an event where participants sleep outdoors over night on the Essar Kop stand.

The percentage of people sleeping rough throughout the country has risen by 169% and given that the North West region has the biggest impact, it is definitely a cause for concern of the local area.

The participants arrived from 5pm at Prenton Park and that was where they stayed until 6am the following morning, some of who, travelled to Morecambe a few hours later for Tranmere Rovers’ game at 3pm.

Some brought sleeping bags, others brought cardboard boxes to help shelter themselves from a bitterly cold night. Volunteers kindly stayed on hand to give soup and hot drinks to everyone, in order to keep body heat at a safe temperature.

So far, over £10,000 has been raised by sponsors, businesses and participants and Tranmere Rovers would like to wholeheartedly thank everyone who has contributed in any way, either monetary or with their time, for making this event so worthwhile and successful.

Rovers have worked closely with Wirral Ark in order for Kip on the Essar Kop to take place and their Chief Executive Aydin Djemal told Wirral View: “Kip on the Kop came about, originally when we were doing a bit of work with Tranmere.

“We came up with the idea of a sleep out and having a kip somewhere. Then fantastically, this idea of Kip on the Kop came about.

“The money that has been raised will be split across homeless charities all over the Wirral.”

To find out more about Tranmere Rovers’ work in the local community and wider, please get in touch with the Community department by emailing [email protected].

 

Fleetwood Town Community Trust launch new Community Sports College

Fleetwood Town Community Trust are pleased to announce the launch of their brand-new Community Sports College.

The Community Sports College will be based at Fleetwood Town’s elite training complex, Poolfoot Farm in Thornton, and will deliver a BTEC Level 3 Diploma in Sport.

Over the past four years, over 60 students have been on the course, with the new Community Sports College building on the success of previous years, whilst providing a pathway of education delivered by the Community Trust.

The Community Trust are looking to provide a pathway; offering traineeships in employability, Level 2 and 3 BTEC awards in Sport to school leavers, followed by foundation degree’s in relevant sporting areas such as sports business and sports coaching.

The BTEC programme has grown year-on-year with the past year being the most successful yet, with the students crowned National Champions in EFL Trust Futsal (Find out more about EFL Trust Futsal here), and winning the North West 11-a-side league.

More importantly though is the classroom success. Having 100% of students complete and pass the course, and 85% achieving on or way above their initial target grade, and 71% progressing onto universities such as Loughborough, Manchester, Edge Hill and Lancaster.

The Community Sports College will allow Fleetwood Town Community Trust to build on their success and grow their education provision further. Expanding their offer to encompass a further and higher education pathway into the sport and leisure industry for local students in the Wyre and Fylde community.

This will offer unique opportunities for ambitious football fans to represent and learn at Fleetwood Town, gain unique work experience opportunities within the football club and to gain industry recognized coaching qualifications. Which will all help towards gaining university places, scholarships abroad and employment in the industry.

Matt Hilton, the Community Trust Chief Executive spoke about the launch and how it can help develop people, and also help students with their further education in sport. He said: “Colleges have traditionally placed academic learning at the core of the curriculum, supported by employability for the world of work.

“By comparison, Fleetwood Town Community Sports College will ensure academic learning is intrinsically linked to our distinctive experience, which places character development and employability at the core of what we do.

“We believe in delivering education that is so much more than a qualifications.”

Fleetwood Town head coach Joey Barton added: “The work the Community Trust does is unbelievable and after hearing about the Community Sports College launch, I fully endorse their new programme.

“It was great to meet a couple of students and find out about the work that they’re getting up to, and I look forward to checking back in with the students later in the year.”

To find our more about Fleetwood Town Community Trust visit: http://fleetwoodtownfcct.com/new/ 

World Cerebral Palsy Day: Mason and Zak Loving Football at Tranmere

Saturday 6th October, is World Cerebral Palsy Day.  To raise awareness of the 17 million people across the world living with cerebral palsy and another 350 million people who are closely connected to someone with cerebral palsy we are focusing on Tranmere Rovers in the Community’s disability football sessions.  Rovers have provided two young fans with the opportunity to participate in the sport they love in a safe and friendly atmosphere.

Ten-year-old Mason and his friend, Zak, aged eight, both have cerebral palsy but that does not stop either of them putting on their football boots and playing the beautiful game.

“I love coming to the sessions and playing football with my friends,” admitted Mason. “We get to play matches too, so I am exercising on a regular basis. I started watching football when I was just three years old and I have now been attending the football sessions at Tranmere for the last four years.”

Explaining how he started playing football, Zak said:

“I played football with my Grandad in the park before my first session at Tranmere when I was six. I come along to Tranmere Rovers games now too and I watch football with my Dad. With the sessions, I love that we get to train and play matches against each other every week.”

The disability football sessions are run on a weekly basis at Prenton Park in the indoor Recreation Centre and each session is always busy with children enjoying the training sessions led by our fully qualified coaches.

The disability football sessions are open for children aged 6-11 years old on a Wednesday from 4-5pm, and on a Tuesday 4-5pm for children aged 11-16 years old. Both Mason and Zak hope by sharing their stories, it will encourage more to start playing the game.

Mason said:

“It is really good fun playing with people who have similar disabilities and do not let anything hold you back, go and have fun like we are doing!”

Zak added:

“It is a great chance to make some new friends. You have to take every opportunity play and if you ever think you are not good enough, you have got to just keep doing and enjoy playing as that is the important thing.”

Strong words from two young men, and Tranmere Rovers in the Community coach, Faye Jones, who runs the sessions, praised both Mason and Zak for sharing their stories.

“They are two great lads and they are an absolute pleasure to coach. They are both very enthusiastic and love playing football.  They are a real inspiration and they want to help more children to follow in their footsteps and play football or participate in any sport.”

Tranmere Rovers in the Community run disability sessions for all ages, for more information, please contact Faye via email – [email protected] or call 0151 6082354.

 

What we did this summer! Our NCS teens spent over 129,630 hours working in their communities, raising over £90,000 for good causes.

This summer 1000’s of teenagers abseiled off mountains, canoed down lakes, made new friends and pushed their limits. They then learned new skills like first aid, budgeting and cooking, before spending time helping other in their communities.

These teenagers were taking part in the National Citizen Service (NCS) with the EFL Trust network of EFL football clubs and youth organisations in Yorkshire and Humber.

Across the region 4,321  young people aged between 15-17 took part in NCS this summer. These young people delivered an impressive 340 projects in their community and raised over £90,000 for good causes. NCS takes place over four phases.

Phase one is ‘adventure’ teens spend a week away pushing their limits with activities such as rock climbing, abseiling, and canoeing.  Rotherham MP Sir Kevin Barron joined a group from Rotherham United on a caving and abseiling trip, he said,

“NCS is fantastic. I wish we’d have something like this when I was young where you could get away for four days and learn about life outside the classroom”

A summer graduate who did NCS with Grimsby Town comments,

“I had the best summer ever! I made lots of friends and pushed myself to new limits that I would not have done without the support of my new friends and leaders”

Phase two sees young people split into teams, they will then learn life skills including budgeting, first aid and cooking.  This summer one group in Barnsley received a massive surprise when they were visited by youtube sensation Emma Blackery, Emma commented,

“Just seeing the team work from people that didn’t know each other a few weeks ago and to see how close they have become is amazing”

Here’s the full video of Emma visit

Phase three sees teams plan and create a community action project and spend at least 30 hours making their project happen, be it a fundraising event, time spent rejuvenating a local park or even a family fun day.

This year the 340 social action projects made a massive difference across Yorkshire and Humber. These included

A graduate from Barnsley sums up what the NCS experience gives young people

“I absolutely loved NCS! I met some amazing people and made so many amazing memories. I gained confidence and became a lot more independent. It was such a fantastic experience.”

Finally phase four is celebration or graduation. Graduates get together to celebrate their summer.  Dame Rosie Winterton, MP for joined Doncaster Rovers graduates at their celebration event, she said

 “It was a real pleasure to meet with the NCS 2018 Doncaster graduates.  Their shared experiences, the skills learnt they have learnt will last them a lifetime and give a real foundation for them to build on in their communities.”

 

 

Walsall Players Encourage Kids to be ‘Super Movers’

Saddlers players Liam Roberts and Jordon Sangha visited pupils at Caldmore Primary Academy to take part in a BBC Super Movers live lesson.

The players joined the school’s Year 6 pupils as they took part in a Shapes and Spaces lesson, broadcast live from Manchester City’s Etihad Stadium.  Super Movers is a partnership between the Premier League and BBC which aims to inspire primary school children to get physically active. The initiative provides resources that help children across the UK with curriculum linked activities.

The live lesson showed the children how to work out the likes of area and perimeter of shapes, as well as looking at symmetry and co-ordinates during the hour.

The group were then able to put their questions to Roberts and Sangha, in a Q&A session with the two Saddlers. Alex Moore, Premier League Primary Stars Officer, said:

‘It was good to be involved in the Super Movers live lesson and it was great to see the children enjoying it!“Having Liam and Jordon here has really helped the class engage with the activities and they interacted really well with Year 6.”

The Rising Stars of Community Football

Rising stars from the world of community football have been formally recognised by the University of South Wales in partnership with the English Football League Trust for their efforts in promoting the sport across the UK.

Students based at Premier League and EFL clubs have emerged as regional and national winners in the 2018 USW/EFL Trust Student Awards after nominees were selected from students working towards the USW Foundation Degree in Community Football Coaching and Development.

Based at professional clubs nationwide, students are supported in completing their degree qualification remotely via a blended learning platform – an innovative approach that places the learner within the industry setting and enables them to apply their knowledge alongside study accordingly.

Launched in 2014 as a joint venture between USW and the EFL Trust to provide a solid theoretical and practical foundation of professional coaching skills, as well as opportunities to acquire nationally recognised vocational qualifications, the degree course also serves to identify up and coming industry talent through its annual awards scheme.

Starting with a shortlist of regionally selected nominations, the national winners in this year’s Academic Student of the Year and Professional Practice Award categories have now been announced.

In the Academic Student of the Year Award category Sheffield United’s Andrew Kempson was named as the National Academic Student of the Year for Year One students and Wigan Athletic student Sean Rowlinson was named as the National Academic Student of the Year for Year Two. Both candidates impressed the awards panel with outstanding grades and an unprecedented commitment to supporting their fellow students.

In the Professional Practice Award category Wigan Athletic’s Megan Dykes took the National Professional Practice Award for Year One students after demonstrating a considerable amount of time dedicated towards promoting community sports projects and her appetite for promoting her own personal development via the attendance at a number of varied sports coaching courses in addition to her USW commitments.

Across Year Two students it was Portsmouth’s Mark Corbett who claimed the National Professional Practice Award title. Mark has used his experiences to develop and promote valuable and enjoyable learning opportunities with learners to enhance their football ability within and around the Portsmouth community.

Course leader Jay Probert explained:

“These awards serve to highlight the wealth of up and coming talent the professional football environment has to draw on both via the University of South Wales and industry wide. As a pioneering course provider seeking to provide students with an ‘industry-ready’ approach, the team here at USW are heartened and delighted evidence of such dedication and commitment continues to come to light.”

Selected by a panel of USW academics with a combination of achieved grades and commitment to professional practice such as volunteering, coaching, work placement and other opportunities in mind, winners in the 2018 awards scheme also included the following:

Academic Performance Award

  • North West: Year One – Megan Dykes (Wigan Athletic); Year Two – Sean Rowlinson (Wigan Athletic)
  • North East: Year One – Andrew Kempson (Sheffield United); Year Two – James Peech (Sheffield Wed)
  • Central: Year One – Natalie Drury (Notts Forest); Year Two – Bradley Moore (Wolves)
  • South: Year One – Ryan Caws (Southampton); Year Two – James Miller (Portsmouth)

Professional Practice Award

  • North West: Year One – Megan Dykes (Wigan Athletic); Year Two – Katie Adams (Carlisle United)
  • North East: Year Two – Alex Webb (Leeds United)
  • Central: Year One – Jon Lewis (Cheltenham); Year Two – Rhys Taylor (Derby)
  • South: Year One – Ryan Caws (Southampton); Year Two – Mark Corbett (Portsmouth)