Wolves Foundation Column – Wolves help shine a light for World Mental Health Day

And that once again offers the opportunity to shine a light on Wolves Foundation’s pioneering Head 4 Health project, which aims to improve the mental wellbeing of adults through informal but educational workshops and physical activity.

Head 4 Health offers an initial eight-week programme of activities and workshops, but people can continue to access support after that initial cohort via the Extra Time programme as well as several other initiatives.

These include football sessions – featuring fixtures in the Birmingham County FA Mental Health League – the allotment project, with the ambition of cultivating food to be used in corporate areas on a matchday, and twice weekly Walk & Talk meet-ups taking place at West Park on a Monday and Friday.

The many different strands to the project ensure different tastes and interests can be met, and the feedback received from participants is an indication of its overall importance.

“I didn’t even have the confidence to attend the first session on my own, so I came with my support worker – my anxiety was through the roof. It has literally changed my life, boosted my confidence and self-esteem.” – Louise.

“We love it here, and hopefully one day it can change someone’s life like it changed mine.” – Scott.

“Playing football at the Head 4 Health sessions is a good way to take my mind off things.” – Rashid.

‘Talking to the lads and meeting new friends has really helped a lot.” – Carl.

Staff take a holistic view to trying to improve people’s mental health and the walk & talk sessions in particular, prove really beneficial in helping participants to open up and find ways to share experiences and tackle any issues and concerns.

These can be especially important heading into the Winter months when people’s moods can naturally dip or be affected by Seasonal Affective Disorder.

“So many of the projects delivered by Wolves Foundation, and not just the health department, have benefits in improving mental health and wellbeing and that is particularly important during what we know are such challenging times,” says the Foundation’s health and wellbeing manager, Rachel Smith.

“Head 4 Health has become an integral part of our delivery in opening doors for people to talk about their issues and regaining feelings of self-worth and confidence.”

The project is funded by the Premier League and Professional Footballers Association, and has also been supported by the City of Wolverhampton Council.

For more details, or to find out more about the different strands of the project, email healthadmin@wolves.co.uk