10/10/2018

EFL & Mind Team Up For Integrated #OnYourSide Campaign Supporting World Mental Health Day

Players and managers from across the English Football League (EFL)  fronted a multi-platform and multi-strand #OnYourMind initiative to highlight the role football can play in tackling mental health problems on World Mental Health Day.

 

The campaign’s aim was built around highlighting the statistic that 1 in 4 people will experience a mental health problem each year.

 

On the day itself, a squad of soccer stars turned heads at London’s King’s Cross as part of a live exhibit to engage the millions of passengers and football fans who pass through the railway station barriers and the soccer stadium turnstiles.

 

James Shea (Luton Town), Deji Oshilaja (AFC Wimbledon), Luke Prosser (Colchester Utd) and Darius Charles (Wycombe Wanderers) surprised football fans and commuters by taking centre stage at a special temporary installation on the King’s Cross station concourse, on behalf of the English Football League (EFL) and its charity partner, the mental health charity Mind.

 

The four players each spent half an hour minutes within the live exhibit posing as footballers with visible and invisible health problems, in full view of passengers within the station.

 

To highlight the key 1 in 4 statistic, three of the footballers demonstrated clearly physical health problems, whilst the remaining player, who on the face of it appeared unhurt, represented the fact that anyone can also experience problems with mental health and that, although these can’t always be seen, they should be treated with equal importance.

 

The exhibition, which will remain open throughout World Mental Health Day, highlights that every year dozens of EFL managers, hundreds of EFL footballers, and hundreds of thousands of EFL club supporters will be living with a mental health problem, many of them feeling unable to reach out for support.

 

The location was chosen for the high footfall and the fact that train travel is the second most popular mode of travel for supporters (after driving).

 

In fact, just as 1 in 4 people experience mental health problems, the EFL’s own research shows that 1 in 4 fans rely on train travel to attend away fixtures in the Sky Bet Championship, or Sky Bet League One and League Two.

 

The live event was amplified across both the league and the charity’s digital and social platforms with films and image led executions carrying the #OnYourSide hashtag.

 

 

 

 

 

And content pieces also drive viewers to the charity’s digital hub for further advice.

 

 

This was further supported by several other EFL activation strands ranging from player and manager interviews and Q&A’s,

 

 

plus club-hosted events

 

 

 

Indeed, ahead of the World Mental Health Day, Jen Lonergan, Jade Sharp, and six others took on Kilimanjaro in support of Mind.

 

 

While EFL clubs across the country have also provided their local Mind shops with signed shirts to help raise funds for the charity.

 

 

“Every day throughout the year the EFL, through its 72 Clubs and their support staff ensure players improve and maintain their physical health. The focus on mental health should be no different and every year 1 in 4 of us will experience a mental health problem,” commented interim EFDL chair Debbie Jevans.

 

“With 1 in 4 EFL supporters using train travel to attend matches we chose Kings Cross Station to highlight the need to raise awareness of the challenges around mental health and the work the EFL and its charity partner, Mind will be doing to offer help and support those in need,”

 

“We all have mental health just as we have physical health and both are equally important to look after. Whether you’re a star striker or season ticket-holder you shouldn’t have to live in fear about opening up and getting support for either your physical or mental health,” said Mind CEO Paul Farmer.

 

“We’re delighted to have joined with the EFL to create the On Your Side charity Partnership to make sure that no one has to tackle a mental health problem alone. Today, on World Mental Health Day, and all days, Mind and the EFL are On Your Side.”

 

Comment:

 

Mind and the EFL have joined forces for two years.

 

 

The activity comes as part of a football season in which EFL and Mind have joined forces in a pioneering partnership that seeks to use the power of football to improve the nation’s mental health.

 

Throughout the current 2018/19 football campaign, the players of all 72 EFL clubs from the Sky Bet Championship through to League Two are wearing the Mind logo on the back of their matchday shirts, the first time that player names have incorporated a charity logo.

 

The EFL (English Football League), a 72 member club organisation spanning three divisions is the largest single body of professional clubs in European football and is responsible for administering and regulating the Sky Bet EFL, Carabao Cup and Checkatrade Trophy, as well as reserve and youth football.

 

The EFL and EFL Trust and its member clubs claim to be committed to communities across the country – providing shared experiences for all and using the power of sport to improve lives.

 

Mind is a UK based mental health charity that provides advice and support to empower anyone experiencing a mental health problem and campaigns to improve services, raise awareness and promote understanding.

 

Other sports pieces promoting Mental Health Awareness Day include England Rugby,

 

 

The PFA,

 

 

The EIF,

 

 

and clubs such as QPR.

 

 

Links:

 

EFL

https://www.efl.com/

https://www.instagram.com/efl/

https://twitter.com/EFL

https://www.facebook.com/theEFL/

https://www.youtube.com/user/TheFootballLeague/videos

 

Mind

https://www.mind.org.uk/

 

 



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