Kicking out mental health struggles

The Pitch

Problem statement

Tackling mental health struggles for disadvantaged individuals that suffer from obesity. According to Priory Group: “people who were obese had a 55% increased risk of developing depression over time, whereas people experiencing depression had a 58% increased risk of becoming obese”. In some communities, mental health problems are rarely recognised or spoken about. They may be seen as shameful or embarrassing. This can discourage people from talking about their mental health or seeing their GP for help.

Solution

We take a double sided approach to this problem, we provide firstly a group of peers, who are facing similar challenges. Once you commit to our team, twice a week you’ll be encouraged to leave your home and travel to either a game or training, 80% of our members said they lacked motivation to do this before joining, the motivator now being to play football and socialise with your new found team mates. Naturally whilst training and playing, you’ll begin to gain lung capacity, cardiac ability and muscle strength. 96% of our members said they feel healthier both mentally and physically since joining our team. Our team aims to be the first stepping stone to a better health.

Why are we best placed to deliver?

Our leadership team is made of mental health aid professionals that all have some degree of experience in football. Ajmal Khan, Lucas Schmidt & Kayleigh Ross. We cater to all genders, sizes and ages. It’s a safe space whether you want to come and simply talk to someone new or if you want to lose 10kg and have your mentor hold your hand through the process. We encourage effort, commitment and collaboration. We will help you, and you will help the next person that joins.

Focus Areas

Delivery plan

Budget breakdown

Beneficiaries

25 people

Expected impact

Firstly and foremost our team players will benefit from the program, upon successful integration their families and friend circles will experience relief from their improvements. Whilst the initial impact upon the wider community and resources is low, with scalability we predict that our program design could relieve the NHS, with a current annual spend of £6BN on obesity and £7.5BN on depression. Whilst our program is the first small step, we aim to install leadership qualities, agile methodologies and routine building into our members, ultimately adding benefit to their professional, academic, social and domestic environments. For our disadvantaged members that may not be able to afford a social life, our sessions are a chance to socialise and build relationships without spending any money.

Track record

Currently this is a new program, born from just supporting a few individuals in our local community and friendship circles. We’ve been running for 6 months with a successful season under our belt. 90% of our members have experienced any degree of weight loss which they attribute to Top Advisors FC. 90% of our members have experienced significant mental health relief which they attribute to Top Advisors FC. 85% of our members wouldn’t be able to afford our sessions if we asked payment. We had our last season sponsored by 2 local businesses that unfortunately can’t sponsor us again due to economic circumstances.

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