Mental health problems affect 1 in 4 people at some point during their lives, yet the stigma around using mental health services stops many people from seeking the help they need. Shrewsbury Town in the community, the official charity partner of Shrewsbury Town Football Club, mean to tackle this through offering mental health sports sessions for those living with mental health problems.

The Shrewsbury Step up challenge fundraising event aims to raise awareness of this programme and help raise funds to continue its growth within the county.

Shrews4Matt ...

Mattew Worrall one of our Heads Up participants shares his story,

Matthew is 20 years old and lives with ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) and EUHD (Emotionally Unstable Personality Disorder). He began attending our Heads Up sessions around a year and a half ago and spoke out about how these sessions have helped his condition and confidence since he started.

Matthew describes his condition as meaning that I see things as being very black and white and there is no middle ground. As an example my Grandad developed cancer which was very treatable and within a couple of months it could be gone, but when my Mum told me about it, all I heard was cancer. To me he could only be perfectly healthy or was going to pass away. It means that I take things very literally and Im more prone to getting angry. If someone tries to joke with me, I more than likely think they are being serious and are actually insulting me. Ive lost a lot of friends because of it but that has mostly been those who are either negative in my life or just dont understand the illness. Theyd say things like just dont take things literally and obviously I cant, its a mental health condition. If I dont take my tablets I will probably flip out and want to end my life.

He was first brought to the Heads Up sessions through being a patient at the Redwood Center in Shrewsbury. The sessions are delivered by Shrewsbury Town in the Community coaches at the Community Football Hub and aim to provide space for patients from the center to play and enjoy football in a relaxed and friendly environment in order to help with their conditions. Mathew told us how important playing football has been for him to meet new friends and give him something to look forward to in the week. I used to play football at Sunday league level but then I started to move away from it until it was one of the activities offered through Redwood and Shrewsbury Town in the Community. Football was one of the things that at least got me out of the hospital for a bit, meeting new people. I see it as something that helps because it takes your mind off of everything else and its a way to escape from all the other stuff. Coming here is the highlight of my week. I meet people who are in similar scenarios to me, they might have a different diagnosis, but were all here together and there is no judgement, theyre all really nice guys and compared to playing in Sunday league there is a lot less pressure. It does feel like a family here, I know if I came here on a Thursday and said guys Ive had a really bad week everyone would make sure Im okay, Harry and Jordan are amazing and always check were okay and obviously it couldnt happen without them.

On top of this the sessions help Matthew to manage his condition and its effects; the tablets he is prescribed mean that he gains weight very easily, so playing football every week allows him to manage this easier along with improving his overall outlook on bad days. The sessions do help in more ways than I can actually say. I think without them the people who come here would be in a lot worse situations. Knowing you have something to look forward to every week makes every day better, if Wednesday is bad I know that on Thursday I still get to go play football. Ive made so many friends here and I genuinely dont know what my life would be without it, there are so many people who might be having a horrible time but for one hour we get to run around, laughing and joking and I am able to just forget about it. It helps me to realise that Im not in as bad a position as I thought.

As part of our Play on the Pitch week, Matthew got the opportunity to play at Montgomery Waters Meadow along with the rest of the Heads Up participants, which gave him another experience to savour. Ive never played on a professional pitch before so playing today I was thinking if I score a goal, thats it, thats my dream for today done and that just helps so much.

https://www.shrewsburytowninthecommunity.com/mental-health-awareness-week-matthews-story/