Dunstable seek to stamp out mental health stigma

The club has chosen to support Mind, the mental health charity, as their charity of the year, to give a voice to footballers affected by mental health problems and send the message that mental health is just as important as physical health.

The club will support the charity by raising vital funds throughout the season and will offer free training sessions, run by qualified coaches, to local Mind organisations and their service users. The club will also offer safe spaces for Mind members to come and watch home games at discounted rates.

Each year, one in four of us will experience a mental health problem and suicide is the most common form of death in males aged between 20-49 years in England and Wales.

Neil Barker, Dunstable Town Chairman, said: “There have been some high profile cases of footballers taking the brave and principled stand to announce their own mental ill health, hoping it would encourage others to seek help. Sadly there has been similarly high profile cases of footballers that have taken their own lives when mental wellbeing seemed unobtainable.