Coventry City and Sky Blues in the Community will be supporting the mental health awareness campaign “It Takes Balls to Talk” at Saturday's game against Stoke City.
‘It Takes Balls to Talk’ was developed by Coventry and Warwickshire Partnership Trust in early 2016 alongside a range of partners including Coventry and Warwickshire Mind, Unite the Union, Samaritans, Time to Change and Coventry City Football Club’s official charity Sky Blues in the Community.
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. The campaign aims to encourage people, particularly men, to talk about how they feel and uses sporting themes and key messages to direct people to help and support when they need it.
At the Coventry City vs. Stoke City Emirates FA Cup Third Round tie this weekend, It Takes Balls to Talk volunteers will be promoting the campaign around the stadium before kick-off – helping to raise awareness of mental health. This is the second season that Sky Blues in the Community and Coventry City Football Club have supported the campaign as part of a series of sporting events in the City.
Sky Blues in the Community Business Development Manager, Hiedi Sloan, said: “Sky Blues in the Community have been part of supporting this campaign since it was founded by mental health worker Alex Cotton in 2016. It is important to recognise that mental health issues can affect anyone and can be caused by a number of different factors. We also understand that, for some, it can be a difficult topic to talk about. To help overcome this difficulty we are supporting the It Takes Balls to Talk campaign to encourage people to talk their feelings and have positive conversations about mental health.”
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