A CHARITY which helps support people who have struggled with their mental health through the coronavirus lockdowns hosted a five-a-side football tournament in Newport last week.
The tournament was organised by Mental Health Football in Wales, which was set up during the first lockdown last year to support people whose everyday lives had been significantly disrupted by living with or recovering from mental health problems.
The tournament saw 14 teams, and around 100 players, compete at Civil 3G Football in Bettws.
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Kei Harris set up Mental Health Football in Wales during lockdown last year.
He said: “I had seen two or three people who I was connected to via football had committed suicide. They had really struggled through the process of lockdown.
“There wasn’t any support out there through football that I could see, so I decided to take that on with my wife.
“We set up an online catalogue of events which we ran through lockdown – bingo, quizzes, cookery classes – while restrictions meant we couldn’t play.
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“When we came out of the first one, we did summer wellbeing sessions. Having fun was the main aim, the football is a side product of that.
“We came up with the idea of last week’s tournament, which was a celebration of the lives of the people we have lost through mental health and those who have been affected by poor mental health. It was supposed to happen last August, but was pushed back until now.”
Luke Degilbert, 26, who plays for the County in the Community side, attends the Mental Health Football in Wales sessions.
Mr Degilbert has autism and has broken his leg on multiple occasions – due to triggers from his autism. He said that the sessions haves benefitted his mental health over the past year.
“We play and have a game and then we have a chat before and after, which is really nice,” he said.
“I have really enjoyed it. It helps with my mental health, and I’ve met lots of new people.
“This was the first Mental Health Football in Wales tournament. It was five-a-side with teams from Newport, Cardiff and Swansea.
“It’s nice to see everyone playing again.
“There hasn’t been any tournaments for a while due to the restrictions.”
To round off the day’s action, the referees nominated a team which played according to the spirit of the game, and these two teams played off in a fair play award final.
To find out more about the project, search ‘Mental Health Football in Wales’ on Facebook.
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