Ipswich Town Football Club promotes the importance of mental health for charity match day takeover

Suffolk Mind will be joining Ipswich Town on Sunday 9th May 2021 for a special charity match day takeover to promote the importance of mental wellbeing.

The charity hopes mental health-themed match days like this will raise awareness and encourage conversation among football fans about their mental health, and raise vital funds for the services they provide in the local community.

Though the charity and its volunteers won’t be able to interact with fans face-to-face at the match, they hope that by working with the club to do a virtual takeover they can raise awareness about the support they offer and raise funds at the same time.

As part of the takeover, Ipswich Town players have appeared in a video highlighting the importance of mental health support during a difficult year for many people.

Players will also be sporting Suffolk Mind t-shirts while they warm up. They will be using their platforms to promote mental health, and Suffolk Mind will be making a special appearance in the match-day programme, including support information.

A dedicated Ipswich Town giving page has also been set up for people to make any donations here.

The virtual charity match day comes as part of Mind’s partnership with the EFL (English Football League), which has already seen the squiggle of Mind’s logo appear on the shirts of Ipswich Town’s players. Over the course of the partnership Suffolk Mind has built closer links with the club by delivering training and support to help bring a lasting legacy around mental health in football.

Mind’s national charity partnership with the EFL launched at the start of the 2018/19 season and has since been extended to run until the end of the 2021/22 season. Working with all 72 EFL clubs across the country it aims to:

o   raise awareness of mental health with fans, clubs and staff

o   raise funds to deliver life-changing support

o   help improve the approach to mental health in football working with other partners in the game.

Lizzy Tuthill, Community Fundraising Coordinator said: “Every year, one in four of us will experience a mental health problem. That could be one person in every family, hundreds of football players and many thousands of football fans. The effects of the pandemic have undoubtedly made things more challenging.

“We know that many fans have been particularly affected by the pandemic through missing out on the camaraderie and community spirit felt by being together on match days. Through this virtual charity match day, we want to let fans know that although we can’t all be together for the match, we are still here for them if they need support.

“We are proud to be working with Ipswich Town over the course of the partnership to raise wider awareness about mental health among fans and within the local community, as well as raising vital funds for our services.”

Dan Palfrey, Ipswich Town’s PR manager said: “We’ve worked closely with Suffolk Mind for three years now, and are delighted to continue supporting them and raising vital awareness of mental health amongst our fans through initiatives such as their matchday takeover against Fleetwood.”