Compass Support is looking for teams to sign up for this year’s Charity Football tournament on 23 May 2020, during Mental Health Awareness Week.

Star City’s Goals Birmingham is the hosting venue for the popular tournament, and have also kindly donated two of the three pitches to support the charity. There will be fifteen five a-side teams with players all over the age of 35 with the matches will taking place from 10 am – 4 pm. Spectators and supporters are all welcome to the event with the bar being open for refreshments from start of play.

Mental health problems can affect anyone, and there are many reasons why some may find it difficult to open up about how they are feeling. The tournament acts as a platform for community members to come together through a shared love of sport and form a support network. By providing a neutral space where the players and spectators can feel safe to talk, Compass Support aims to shed a positive light on sharing our mental health and offer advice and guidance around the sensitive topic.

While the football is open to both male and female players, it has to date been used to raise awareness of male mental health services, giving men an opportunity to interact with others and encourage them to talk about any issues they face, and women are welcome for the skills they bring to the game too, both in terms of advice and football.

Sadly, male suicide rates reached their highest level since 2002 last year, according to a report from the Office for National Statistics, with men aged 45 to 59 found to be most at risk.

Philip Harris, Health Project Worker, Compass Support said:

Two years ago, we struggled to get as much participation as we would’ve liked, so we decided to hold a football tournament as a platform to promote the Mental Health Awareness Week. Each year, we try to bring more to the table to help broadcast the amazing support and services available that are destigmatising mental health and getting people to understand that it’s ok not to be ok.

The support from Goals Birmingham at Star City has been phenomenal. With their help, we will be able to add more teams and have a bigger venue to listen to more men who may be unaware of or can’t access our services on weekdays.

Compass Support are still on the lookout for more teams to join in, so if your company would like to sign a team up or sponsor the event, please contactus@compass-support.org.uk