World Mental Health Day event

Each year Coping Through Football marks World Mental Health Day with a tournament to bring together participants from our Waltham Forest and Redbridge sessions and celebrate their achievements. Thirty-two service users took part in this year’s 8-a-side tournament on Douglas Eyre Sports Centre’s 3G pitch and it was heart-warming to witness the spirit in which the matches were played and the encouragement players gave to each other throughout the event.  One service user used the occasion to address the group on how the project had really helped his recovery. He spoke movingly about how he has been transformed from a lethargic, isolated individual to a much more energetic and sociable person.  He went on to thank everyone for the support he had received, not just from the staff and coaches but also from all the participants who had welcomed him in to the group and supported him during his time with the project.

Staff from London Playing Fields Foundation, NELFT and Leyton Orient Trust attended the event and we were particularly grateful to Martin Ling, Leyton Orient FC’s Director of Football, for joining us to present the winners’ medals. Martin gave an inspiring and insightful speech about his own struggles with mental health and spoke passionately about the importance of the project in providing service users with a reason to get out of bed in the morning, to meet with others and to be more physically active.

The real winners of the tournament were not those who left with a medal around their neck, but every single individual who makes the commitment to attend each week, participate in the session and interact with others. In doing so they are one step closer to reaching their goal of getting their lives back on track.