Club offers help to fans with mental health issues

Football fans who are struggling with their mental health are being encouraged to seek help through Wolverhampton Wanderers.

A scheme run by the club's foundation since 2019 has worked with nearly 2,000 adults who were struggling for one reason or another and it wants to draw more attention to support on offer.

And at the match between Wolverhampton Wanderers and Newcastle United on Sunday, trained stewards will be available to talk to fans, while 14 pages of the matchday programme will feature stories about mental health.

One of the people to have been helped by the club, John Martin, said: "If it hadn't had been for them, I wouldn't be here today."

The 70-year-old, who has been going to Molineux since he was 10 years old, said he started having problems in early 2020.

"I'd disappeared a couple of times with intention of ending things, because things has just got too much for me," he said.

Then he heard about the support offered by the Wolves Foundation's Head 4 Health group and decided to attend a session.

He remembered starting with a group of around 10 other men and said they talked and shared their stories with each other, but were not put under any pressure to do so.

He described it as a "very, very safe space," and that it was "such a relief to be able to unburden myself".

While he said his family had been very supportive, he felt "sometimes you need to be able to speak to someone else".

Martin said he had seen a welcome change in attitudes towards mental health in recent years, with a greater willingness to talk.

He encouraged other people like him to take up the offer of help from Wolves and his story will be told in the lead-up to the match against Newcastle.

Wolves are one of 11 Premier League Clubs involved in a "Together Against Suicide" campaign, which is being run in partnership with Samaritans.

The club said it would use "the power of football to spark conversations, break down stigma and offer life-saving support".

It said it had given suicide prevention training to more than 400 stewards and had four who were designated "wellbeing" stewards.

At Molineux, the club said any fan could approach a steward and ask to speak to a member of the Wolves safeguarding team, and they'll be there for support.

And if you, or someone you know, has been affected by mental health then support and information is available at BBC Action Line.

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