Movember Invest £4.2M in UK Sports for Mental Health

The foundations of major football clubs, such as Manchester City’s City in the Community, Tottenham Hotspur Foundation, and Crystal Palace’s Palace for Life Foundation, are joining Movember, Rugby League Cares, and SAMH (Scottish Action for Mental Health) to empower young people to prioritise their mental fitness.

Game-Changer: Movember Invests in UK Sports to Boost Mental Health

Leading men’s health charity Movember has announced a £4.2 million investment into its youth mental health programme, Movember Ahead of the Game.

Expanding its reach across the UK over the next three years, the programme, delivered through community sport, aims to improve mental health literacy, build resilience, and provide young people with the skills needed to face life’s challenges both on and off the field.

Movember is proud to welcome 50 new delivery partners over the next three years, including the foundations of Premier League, Super League and Scottish Premiership clubs, such as Manchester City’s City in the Community, Tottenham Hotspur, Crystal Palace, Wigan Warriors, Hull FC, Warrington Wolves, Aberdeen Football Club Community Trust, and St. Mirren FC Charitable Foundation. These new partnerships will work with the programme’s existing implementation partners, Rugby League Cares and SAMH.

According to NHS England, the urgency of the mental health crisis is evident, with one in five children and young people aged 8-25 having a probable mental health condition in 2023. Additionally, 50% of mental health conditions are established by age 14 and 75% by age 24. In Scotland, the prevalence of anxiety among young people has doubled in the past decade, with the Scottish Health Survey 2022 reporting that 25% of 16 to 24-year-olds experience anxiety.

Movember Ahead of the Game engages the entire local community sports ecosystem, providing interactive workshops that equip young athletes, parents, coaches, umpires, and volunteers with the tools to understand mental health, develop mental fitness, and support one another. Through this initiative, over 68,000 participants in the UK will benefit from mental health education and resilience training by 2027. 

Transforming Communities

Paul Williams, Movember’s Director of Young Men’s Health Implementation Europe, announced new partnerships, including Premier League club foundations, to expand Movember Ahead of the Game. The initiative equips young people with tools to build lifelong mental resilience, meeting them on the field and in their communities.

Movember’s official implementation partner, Rugby League Cares, has delivered the MAOTG programme to over 20,000 young people across England since 2022. With additional funding and new partnerships, the programme is set to engage 68,000 more participants, expanding its impact and ensuring that more young people receive essential mental health education.

Rugby League Cares and Movember Unite to Foster Resilience in Young Athletes

Keith Senior, Head of Wellbeing Programmes at Rugby League Cares, highlighted the powerful impact of Movember’s Ahead of the Game initiative since its launch in 2021. The program has significantly enhanced the mental fitness of young participants, coaches, and caregivers, equipping them with tools to navigate daily challenges.

Aberdeen FC captain Graeme Shinnie emphasised the vital role of sport in mental health, applauding the program for fostering resilience and creating a well-informed support network to help young athletes manage the highs and lows of competitive sports.

To achieve this goal, Rugby League Cares is expanding its network to include 20 additional delivery partners across England and Wales. Current partners include:

• Leeds Rhinos Foundation
• Everton in the Community
• Fulham FC Foundation
• Sheffield Eagles Foundation
• Hull FC Foundation
• Warrington Wolves Community Foundation
• Wigan Warriors Community Foundation
• Tottenham Hotspur Foundation
• Palace for Life Foundation (Crystal Palace)
• City in the Community (Manchester City)
• Yorkshire County Cricket Foundation.

In Scotland, Movember has partnered with SAMH to support 20,000 young people through sport. Over the next three years, SAMH will train and support 30 delivery partners to expand MAOTG to even more communities.

Movember Ahead of the Game is part of a broader global sports health initiative to improve the sporting environment and foster behavioural change for young men. Movember remains committed to investing in research, real-world programme delivery, and advocacy to ensure better mental health outcomes for future generations.

For more information on the Movember Ahead of the Game programme, visit the website here.

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