UK Charity ‘Sport in Mind’ gets the nation walking and talking with regional wellbeing walks

To champion UK Mental Health Awareness Week, the UK’s leading mental health sports charity, Sport in Mind, will be hos3ng an hour-long Wellbeing Walk in Exeter on Friday 17th May 2024.

Sport in Mind are joining the Mental Health Foundation’s ‘Moments for Movement’ campaign in Mental Health Awareness Week (13-19 May). The aim is to promote Sport in Mind’s 2024 theme of ‘Movement: Moving more for our mental health’ and to bring people together as a community.

The walk’s starting point will be at The Riverside Leisure Centre, Cowick St, Exeter and will commence at 1pm allowing friends and family to kick off the Moments For Movement campaign with a gentle walk which will cross the Trews Weir Suspension Bridge.

Led by Sport in Mind’s Laura Brooks, the walk will get people talking and moving, gaining valuable fresh air and the chance to speak about the importance of looking out for each other at a time in society when many find it difficult to talk about how they feel.

Paul McAdam, the chair of Sport in Mind, said: “I’m very pleased to see Mental Health Awareness week focus on ‘moving more for your mental health’. Sport in Mind’s very core is to transform lives and mental health through sport and physical activity and so we fully endorse and support the 2024 Mental Health Awareness week.”

“As one of our attendees recently said, “exercise is good for you... it just lifts your mood.”

As part of Mental Health Awareness Week, the Sport in Mind team have got the ball rolling with a charity football tournament at Prospect Park in Reading, hit the course with a golf day at Sunningdale Heath Golf Club as well as attending the opening of the new Keystone Mental Health Hub in Oxford.

On Wednesday 15th May, Sport in Mind will help lead the way on starting a national conversation on Mental Health by being a part of the Mental Health Awareness session at the UK Parliament buildings alongside the Minister for Mental Health and Women’s Health Strategy, Maria Caulfield MP.

Sport in Mind has supported over 23,000 adults and young people since its inception, working with hundreds of partners including the NHS, National Governing Bodies of sports, as well as community-based organisations.

Since its foundation in 2010, Sport in Mind has developed from a small Reading-based charity to an organisation that delivers across 14 counties in England and Wales in 140 locations, helping to improve the lives of over 6,190 adults and children in 2023 alone.

The sole mission is to help transform people’s lives and mental health through exercise and sport. Between 2022 and 2023, over 5 million people accessed mental health care, as well as an estimated 1.2 million people who are on waiting lists for mental health services. Studies have shown that there is approximately a 20% and 30% lower risk of depression for adults participating in daily physical activity.

Sport in Mind partnered with Sport England to launch this year’s Mental Health Awareness Week, showcasing just how valuable sport and exercise sessions have been for individuals such as Alison and Dexter, who share their beneficial experiences and mental health stories in the video below.

Sport in Mind collaborate with Sport England for Mental Health Awareness https://youtu.be/2lw2McCjHq8

Tom Burton, Strategic Lead for Health and Wellbeing at Sport England said: “Whether it’s making friends in a team sport, taking part in group sessions, or going on a walk for some quality time to yourself, being physically active and moving more in ways that work for you is integral to both our physical and mental health.

“We are proud to support Sport in Mind, as Sport England’s Uniting the Movement strategy focuses
on supporting people to live healthier, happier and more active lives by removing the barriers we know can hold people back.”