The importance of a person’s mental health cannot be underestimated and Rotherham United are keen to reiterate the importance of that message ahead of World Mental Health Day, which takes place on Saturday 10th October 2020.
Together with the EFL and charity partners, Mind, clubs across the country will be uniting in their support of the ‘Do One Thing’ initiative which has been designed to inspire people to make one small change to look after their mental health.
Working closely alongside the Rotherham United Community Sports Trust – who offer year-round support to participants and people in the local area through their extensive range of contacts – the club are incredibly proud to be involving themselves in a number of activities to promote the fantastic work of Mind on the topic on mental health.
The Trust’s Inclusion Manager Trudi Race has already made great strides in raising awareness on the subject and has, with the help of friends, colleague and people in the local area, raised a superb £1,000 which has been donated to Rotherham Samaritans.
Trudi began her fundraising efforts on 10th September 2020, a date which also marks World Suicide Prevention Day, and recently oversaw a charity football match which took place on 4th October.
The game was held in memory of everyone who we have sadly lost to suicide and saw 16 men come together, raising important funds for a charity who are there for those who are struggling. One team was made up of committee members from local non-league outfit Maltby Main (pictured above) and upon seeing his club represented, Main Chairman Wilf Race said: "Maltby Main always look to support the local community in any way possible.
"Male suicide is something close to our hearts. You're lucky if you haven’t been affected by suicide in some way- unfortunately many of us know of someone who has taken their own lives and so this event was something we were keen to support."
Furthermore, on Saturday 10th October, the Trust will be releasing their first ever podcast, on which they will be discussing all things related to the importance of taking care of your mental health. The Trust will also be reiterating that they are always there should anyone need to chat – together, by talking, we can help.
There are further activities planned ahead of the weekend, one of which includes a surprise for someone connected to the Trust which we will cover later in the week.
Head of Community Jamie Noble has been incredibly proud to see the club’s efforts so far and is hopeful that the united efforts of teams across the EFL contributes greatly to promoting positive change of the topic of mental health.
“I think that sometimes the importance of a person’s mental health can be underestimated, even by ourselves. We should regularly take a few minutes, half an hour or longer to think about how we can take care of our minds because it is incredibly significant,” he explained to www.themillers.co.uk.
“The busy nature of everyday life means that sometimes we neglect our own mental welfare and hopefully the ‘Do One Thing’ initiative is thought-provoking for us all.
“Too many lives are being lost at such a young age and a lot of it is because people feel like they have to suffer in silence – they absolutely do not.
“There are some fantastic charities out there including Mind and Samaritans and we as a Community Sports Trust and football club are always here to listen too.
“Sometimes just having a coffee with a friend or stranger and sharing your thoughts can be a big help. They say a problem shared is a problem halved and in a lot of cases that is true.
“The work that the EFL are doing together with Mind has seen us make great progress on the topic of mental health, but there is still a distance to go and we will do everything in our power here at Rotherham United to ensure we get there.”