On 1st February 2022, Sporting Wellness launched ‘The Huddle’, the new recurring giving campaign that allows people to donate a set monthly amount to the charity in order to support sportspeople in need of vital mental health support. The significance of this project cannot be underestimated.
Firstly, let us consider the importance of the name and why it was chosen. The Huddle represents togetherness, being part of a team or a group who support each other. Seeing sports teams ‘huddle up’ on the field has become a common sight, football teams do it before kick-off, cricket teams do it after every wicket, even sportspeople in individual sports can be seen huddling with coaches and support staff to show unity and the importance of every person who has helped them along the way.
This is exactly the image that Sporting Wellness wants to portray. That together we are strong. The more people that donate to our charity, the more sportspeople we can support. The more sportspeople who know about us, the more they will feel that they are not alone. However tough things get sometimes, they know there is a huddle of support around them with Sporting Wellness’s ability to fund free and confidential mental health support.
Monthly recurring giving is also extremely important for the charity’s development. We are lucky in that we have a number of wonderful people out there who have donated to the charity in a whole host of different ways; organising fundraising events, supporting online quizzes, attending charity events and completing their own challenges to raise significant funds. To all these people, we are eternally grateful.
But this type of fundraising can be sporadic and seasonal and gives us no guaranteed income over a set period of time. The Huddle will provide the charity with a guaranteed monthly income and allow us to plan for the future more decisively. The more people who support The Huddle, the greater that pot becomes and this allows us to expand the charity in a number of important ways.
Most importantly, it takes some of the pressure off paying our monthly treatment bill to our health and well being partner, Health Assured. Their first class mental health support is a vital part in ensuring all our sportspeople get the help they need. But it comes at a price and raising funds to cover these costs, particularly through the uncertainty of Covid 19, has been extremely challenging.
It will also allow us to raise more awareness of Sporting Wellness. Our brand and our reputation is growing, as is the number of sportspeople we support, which has now topped over 1000, a magnificent achievement in itself. But there will be some sportspeople out there struggling with their mental health who don’t know about us, who feel that they are alone with nowhere to turn for support. We need every sportspeople out there to know that this is not the case. We need them to know about Sporting Wellness.
A donation of £10 a month helps us to support six sportspeople applications for mental health support. From there, the sportspeople will be placed in our support system to give them their own peace of mind that further mental health support will be quickly provided without cost, delay or waiting lists. And what is £10 a month. Maybe a two or three pints of beer, maybe one less takeaway a month, one less online purchase? Who knows? But if you can spare it and donate it to Sporting Wellness, then please do.
Full details of ‘The Huddle’ can be found on our website at http://www.sportingmindsuk.org/thehuddle or on all of our social media channels @sportingmindsuk. Setting up a monthly donation is an easy, straight forward process and you can donate as little or as much as you like. All donations are gratefully received. In the UK, one in three sportspeople will suffer from mental health problems, either during or after their careers. Just think how good it will feel knowing that you’ve helped at least of one of those sportspeople overcome their issues.
Remember, you can help. Join ‘The Huddle’ today.
Many thanks
Phil McShane (Sporting Minds Associate)