Beyond the Pitch: How this football club is tackling men’s mental health head-on.
Back in October a dear friend of Kinmel Bay Football Club sadly took their own life. The team and Management wanted to do all they could to raise awareness of how important it is for men to talk.
Kinmel Bay FC’s Manager Leon Field got in touch with Conwy Mind for resources for the players, just so they knew the free support that is out there. We provided a number of leaflets to signpost people in the right direction. Leon then went on to provide all players with Conwy Mind t-shirts for them to wear during the warm up of every football match they play, a great way to highlight to other teams and spectators the work that Conwy Mind do.
A couple of members of the Conwy Mind Team also attended a home game to speak with both teams about the work we do and the importance of talking.
After a few conversations we decided to go one step further and join forces to create a video to try to squash the stigma surrounding men’s mental health and urge men to get talking. We contacted the amazing team at Yoke Creative Agency who produced our last video and they were more than happy to get involved with such an important topic.
We faced a couple of hurdles thanks to the great British weather – a storm being one and snow being the other! But it was third time lucky and we headed to Kinmel Bay FC’s training ground to finally get filming. We outlined a script and the players at the club delivered these lines with passion and meaning, we were blown away how they put their nerves aside and were dedicated to making this video a success.
This isn’t the end for the clubs mission to squash the stigma, they’ve also created a WhatsApp group for the players to speak openly about anything they might want to get off their chest, and they’re also in the planning stages of setting up a Wellbeing Hub in the leisure centre where they train. Their dedication and commitment is inspiring and we’re so glad they got in touch with us to build this strong partnership.
We’d like to thank everyone at Kinmel Bay FC for being a part of this and to Yoke Creative Agency for bringing our vision to life. Please help us spread this message and share our video where you can:
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Posted on: 12th March 2024
