What is Mental Health Awareness Week
Mental Health Awareness Week is an annual event when there is an opportunity for the whole of the UK to focus on achieving good mental health. The Mental Health Foundation started the event 21 years ago. Each year the Foundation continues to set the theme, organise and host the week. The event has grown to become one of the biggest awareness weeks across the UK and globally, and this year their focus is on loneliness.

Why loneliness?
Loneliness is affecting more and more of us in the UK and has had a huge impact on our physical and mental health, especially in young men. Connecting people and our community is fundamental to protecting our mental health and we need to find better ways of tackling the epidemic of loneliness. We can all play a part in this.

Wasps Mental Health Awareness Night
Recently the club hosted a great mental health awareness night with some of the senior squad, volunteers and coaches. The guys from State of Mind Sport gave an amazing presentation on mental health first aid and suicide prevention in young men, and we got to listen to the lived experiences of rugby league legends Danny Sculthorpe and Phil Veivers, and the impact poor mental health has had on their own careers, physical health and personal lives. We also got to listen to the amazing work local charity Every Life Matters is carrying out throughout the Allerdale community to raise awareness of, and tackle suicide.

Useful Resources

CALM - Mens helpline 5pm - midnight
0800 58 58 58

Papyrus - Young peoples helpline
0800 068 4141

Samaritans - 24/7, 365 days a year
116 124

Shout - 24hr crisis text line service
text Shout to 85258

www.stateofmindsport.org
www.every-life-matters.org.uk
www.mind.org.uk
www.thecalmzone.net
www.andysmanclub.co.uk