One in four people suffer from mental health problems.
This means that if you look at the supporters filling the seats of Fratton Park on a Saturday, then around 5,000 people are dealing with a mental health illness, and that is only over the course of a year! The major issue is the stigma attached to a person suffering from a mental health problem.
Everyone has mental health, the same as everyone has physical health. Like physical health, mental illness can affect anyone at any point in their lives. One in 10 children can suffer from some form of mental illness, with one in three people being affected by a form of mental illness over the course of their life.
Mental illness can range through a variety of different things, from phobias, depression or panic attacks right through to serious cases of self harm and psychosis, but the negativity attached to mental health is what prevents people from accepting it.
The IMAGINE YOUR GOALS programme, funded by the Premier League and Sport Relief, is being run by Pompey Sports and Education Foundation along with many other Premier League clubs and mental health awareness groups.
Over the last eight months the programme has been running in Portsmouth, and more recently Fareham, has successfully helped people with mental health issues.
Through weekly football and sport sessions, participants are also offered the chance to meet health trainers and take part in competitive activities. This also gives the individuals a chance to meet others with similar problems and help build bonds within the local community, whilst helping to address the stigma attached to people with mental health problems.
On June 4 2011, the inaugural IMAGINE YOUR GOALS tournament is going to be held in Portsmouth at PlayFootball (ROKO). Local teams from the Portsmouth and Fareham programmes will be competing alongside teams from other IMAGINE YOUR GOALS projects including Arsenal, Everton and Bristol. Whilst celebrating the success of the project we can use this tournament as one of the many stepping stones towards fighting the prejudice and helping those in tackling their mental illness.
If you would like to learn more about mental health or any courses running in your area please contact Alex Cawley, Project Manager on 023 9275 2587.