Movember’s mental fitness workshops shortlisted for major public health award
We’re delighted to announce that Movember’s flagship Ahead of The Game (AoTG) programme has been shortlisted for a prestigious public health award.
The trailblazing programme, which has made a positive impact on the wellbeing of thousands of young people across some of the most socially deprived areas in England, has been named as one of three finalists in the Public Mental Health and Wellbeing category of the Royal Society for Public Health (RSPBH) Health & Wellbeing Awards 2022.
The awards recognise and celebrate activities that improve the population’s health and address some of the wider social determinants of health. The winners will be announced in a ceremony in London in October 2022.
Tracy Herd, Movember’s Global Program Implementation Director for Ahead of The Game, says: “Giving young men the skills to cope with a mental health problem is extremely important as we know that half of all mental health problems have their onset before the age of 14.
“We need to equip young men of that age to be able to deal with life’s challenges and team sport is a really engaging way to delivering those messages.
" Giving young men the skills to cope with a mental health problem is extremely important as we know that half of all mental health problems have their onset before the age of 14. "
“Through our partnerships with sporting bodies and other organisations, we have been able to deliver our programme to thousands of young people across world and there is evidence that it is having a positive impact on communities.
“Being a finalist in the Royal Society for Public Health’s Health & Wellbeing Awards 2022 award formally recognises Movember’s Ahead of The Game for its contribution to improving and protecting the public’s health.
Ahead of The Game is a series of mental fitness workshops aimed at adolescents aged between 12-18 and delivered through community sports clubs. During the one-hour workshops, participants learn how to spot the signs of anxiety, depression and low mood in themselves and others.
In separate workshops, their parents and sports coaches learn how to distinguish between potential mental health problems and normal teenage behaviour.
As official mental fitness partner for the Rugby League World Cup 2021 (RLWC2021) which will take place in November 2022, Movember is working with delivery partner Rugby League Cares, to roll out the workshops to 8,000 teenage rugby league players, their parents, and sports coaches. Formerly launched by the Duke of Sussex in January 2020, the RLWC2021 is the first international sporting tournament in the world to have a Mental Fitness Charter as part of its Social Impact programme. Despite lockdown restrictions caused by the pandemic, between November 2019 and March 2022, a total of 271 workshops have been delivered across 114 community and professional clubs, schools and other venues as well as online, reaching over 4,000 young athletes and nearly 400 coaches. Former and current rugby league players including Keith Senior, Paul Wood, Robbie Hunter-Paul and Amy Hardcastle were trained as workshop facilitators to encourage uptake by young athletes.