Mental health issues can affect anyone and can be caused by a number of factors - Speak to the correct people...
Sky Blues in the Community and Coventry City Football Club are supporting a new mental health awareness campaign that has been developed by Coventry and Warwickshire Partnership NHS Trust, Coventry and Warwickshire MIND, Samaritans and a range of other organisations.
Mental health issues can affect anyone and can be caused by a number of factors. Statistics show that suicide is three times more common in men than women and is the most common cause of death in men under 45.
Research has shown that life events such as relationship breakdown, death of a loved one, financial problems, loss or change in employment and alcohol & drug use can contribute to feelings of low mood and despair. If you know your mate is going through any of these things, maybe make an extra effort to ask how they are doing and make some time to listen to them.
If you are going through any of these things, speak to a mate or access support available through the website: www.ittakesballstotalk.com
The campaign ‘It Takes Balls to Talk’ aims to encourage people, particularly men, to talk about how they feel. It uses sporting themes and key messages to direct people to help and support, when they need it.
At Saturday's match at the Ricoh Arena, It Takes Balls to Talk volunteers will be promoting the campaign around the stadium before kick-off. Volunteers have already attended a number of sporting events across Coventry and Warwickshire to raise awareness of mental health.
Campaign founder and mental health worker Alex Cotton explained: “The campaign aims to reach out to men in Coventry and Warwickshire, and the people who care about them. The simple message that it really helps to talk about how you feel. It can be difficult to speak up about your mental health, but there are people who can help.
“We are really grateful to Coventry City and the Ricoh Arena for their continued support, and we hope people at this match will be as enthusiastic about our campaign as people have been at all the other events we have been to.
“The new year is a time that many people find extremely difficult, so we hope we can provide a timely reminder to men in our area that if you speak to someone – or can be a ‘listening mate’ for a pal who needs you – it can really make a difference.”
Sky Blues in the Community Health Manager Hiedi Sloan said: “The It Takes Balls to Talk campaign is an important example of how organisations can work together to help promote such a vital message.
"At Sky Blues in the Community, we are committed to actively promoting healthy behaviours and this includes mental health. Mental health issues can affect anyone but we understand that it can be difficult to talk about. So, like many, we recognise the importance of supporting a campaign that encourages people to talk about it.”
Campaigners will be out and about at more sporting events during 2017. In the meantime, you can visit the campaign website at www.ittakesballstotalk.com, search for It Takes Balls to Talk on Facebook or follow @ballstotalk on Twitter.