Here are some comments from people we have delivered mental health sessions for.
Balfour Beatty Construction -“I would like to start by saying ‘THANK YOU’ supporting the event. Some of the feedback made me quite emotional, especially when they said they could relate to some of the speakers or they had to leave the room. This is just the start of our journey, which I know we will beat the stigma of Mental Health, which includes supporting not just the people we work with but our local communities.” (Dave McCaul)
Leeds Rhinos Foundation - “Just wanted to thank you and Jimmy for your time last week. Really lovely to meet you both and feedback from the group has been fantastic.” (Laura Buckle)
West Hartlepool Rugby Club - “Thanks for inviting me. I’m not just saying it, what a fantastic group State of Mind are. I thought the presentation was brilliant. Feel proud, top night. Can’t tell you how many home truths they came out with! I feel informed and inspired. Great job, I even have a bit more time for referees. Great turnout and love State of Mind….very moving. I am a bit of an emotional wreck at the moment so sorry if I was a bit quiet. Thanks for putting that on tonight at West…if you aimed to help just one person in that room you succeeded. Yeah was good… hit home more than I thought it would to be fair, it’s that not knowing between just having a bad few days and thinking you will be ok or actually is there something wrong – you don’t want to be the one going around shouting how depressed you are so you toss it off as a bad day and I’ll be ok… until it just seems too much and more than a bad day.” (Phil Jukes)
Sellafield - “I think what you guys presented will have had an enormously positive impact on a lot of our construction workers in general. It will have no doubt affected everyone who attended but these guys respond better to their peers so the positive impact yesterday will have had will be immeasurable. It’s not easy to get up and put a story like that out there but if it gets one person to seek help for themselves or someone around them job done!” (Gavin Cattanach)
United Utilities - “Thank you for doing the State Of Mind talk last week, it was a really good turn out and great feedback from staff.” (Adele Dismore)
St. Peter’s High School Orrell, Wigan - “I just wanted to to say a huge thank you to Phil, Jimmy and Danny for the truly inspirational, thought provoking and honest presentation you all gave yesterday. We have received some great feedback from our students and staff and I have been asked already when we can get you in to talk to the other year groups.” (Kirsty Houghton)
BWSC - “I’ve just had the best hour in work for a long, long time! Jimmy Gittins an ex-rugby league player who suffered a life changing injury and Ian Smith an ex-Super League referee who retired due to the mental torture he was suffering after a decision made in a Hull v Leeds play off game have just given a talk. They now go around the country for the charity State of Mind Sport and talk to people and listen to people all with a view to encouraging us all to respect our mental health. Businesses are now waking up and bring these talks to the workplace. What a fantastic thing, they are two fantastic human beings.” (Stuart Rotherham)
Publications -
Cooper. P and Benbow, E. (2013) In a different league: The State of Mind campaign. British Journal of Mental Health Nursing May/June 2013 Vol 2 No 2.
Cooper, P., Stringer, W., Howes, J. and Norton, J. (2015) The State of Mind Boot Room: Reducing social isolation and promoting mental fitness. British Journal of Mental Health Nursing No. 3 Vol 4. pp. May/June
Rae, M., Cooper,P.and Johnston. A. (2016) Tackling stigma through sport. Mental Health Practice, 2016, 20(4):14-17
Cooper, P., Howes, J., Munson, R., Rae, M. and Shepherd, J.(2017) Testing the appetite for a men’s mental health programme in a professional sports environment Mental Health Nursing February / March Pp.12-15
Cooper, S.E., Parry, S., Livanou, M. and Sculthorpe, D. (2019) Exploring men’s attitudes to mental fitness through sportspeople’s lived experience. British Journal of Mental Health Nursing Volume 8, Number 4
Woods, D., Leavey, G., Meek, R., and Breslin, G. (2020). Developing Mental Health Awareness and Help Seeking in Prison: A Feasibility Study of the State of Mind Sport Programme. International Journal of Prisoner Health, 1-30.
Wilcock, R., Smith, A. and Haycock, D. (2021) Designing community sports-based programmes for men with mental illness: A qualitative study of the Offload rugby league programme. Mental Health and Physical Activity Volume 20. March 2021 100386
Pearce, L. (2021) Mental health and well-being: nurse’s initiative helps rugby players tackle their issues. Mental Health Practice March 2021
Cooper, P.A. and Ganson, S. (2022) Supporting mental fitness in professional rugby league match officials. Mental Health Practice doi: 10.7748/mhp.2022.e1617
_logo.png){kind=logo}
