Northamptonshire football league joins forces with mental health charity to show the importance of ‘checking in’

A charity has joined forces with a Northamptonshire football league with a goal to raise awareness of mental health issues.

Northamptonshire Mind has teamed up with the Nene Sunday League to get the message across about the importance of keeping in touch, reaching out for a chat and remembering that someone will always be there to listen or to provide support.

The importance of social sporting activities including amatuer football was brought home to communities across the county when teams were prevented from getting together during lockdown.

So captains will wear armbands displaying the charity’s logo on World Mental Health Day on Sunday (October 10) to raise awareness of mental health issues.

League chairman, Graham Pinney, said: “We were acutely aware of the need for mental health support across our footballing community and we were delighted to launch this project with Northamptonshire Mind.

“It is vital players know where to go for support and as a league we wanted to ensure we are doing all we can to help them talk and signpost them to where they can receive support for their mental health.

“For many players, referees and volunteers, football is their only outlet to forget what is going on in their lives.

“Send a text, pick up the phone – it could save a life.”

Nick Tite, fundraising lead for Northamptonshire Mind, added: “It has been a challenging 18 months for so many people.

“Awareness of mental health and its effects have become much more high profile as a result of the pandemic.

“We are pleased to support the Nene Valley Sunday League in this campaign and have commissioned Wellingborough-based Print Data Solutions to create special captains’ armbands that will display our logo alongside that of the league at matches being played on World Mental Health Awareness Day on Sunday October 10.

“This campaign has been the result of a collaborative effort between ourselves, the league and Print Data Solutions which has kindly designed and supplied the armbands.”

Visit Northamptonshire Mind’s website to find out more about what the charity does.