Ruislip & Eastcote & Northwood Gazette
Real action for men’s mental health
FOOTBALL COACH INSPIRED TO START UP MINDS UNITED FC
AFTER being sectioned and diagnosed with bipolar disorder in 2013, Tarik Kaidi’s journey to recovery was not a conventional one.
The football coach from West London was met by many challenges before starting Minds United FC in 2019 – a community football club supporting adults with mental health issues and substance misuse.
Seeing the breakdown of relationships and struggling to cope after his diagnosis, Tarik learned first hand how important peer support through football can be to improve mental health.
He told MyLondon: “At the end of 2013 I was severely depressed. I didn’t want to live anymore. Life was dark, I didn’t feel like facing the world.
“When I got off the ward and started getting involved in community groups for people with mental health it was good because I started learning about people with different mental health conditions and we were able to support each other.”
‘People have said football saved their lives’
Tarik said being able to join a football team in 2014 for people with mental health issues greatly helped his recovery, so he felt it was important to bring something similar to the North Kensington community he grew up in.
He said: “I wanted to have a space for everyone to come no matter where they’re from. Everyone has two things in common here – football and mental health.
“I knew how much it helped me. A lot of people have said football saved their lives.”
Only a short while since Minds United FC was formed, the team have already began competing in the North West Mental Health Football League as well as participating in several tournaments. Through weekly training sessions and monthly league games, players are able to interact with other members of the community and build local support networks.
Adam, who’s struggled with mental health difficulties since being diagnosed with a personality disorder in 2006, joined the team shortly after it started. He said:
“I didn’t feel like I belonged to anything or anyone, I felt like a misfit in society. I feel like the bond we’ve built in Minds United FC is a family. You come and you’re accepted.
“We do come to play football, but I also come to see how my peers are doing in the week and how they’ve been progressing.
“Tarik has been like a peer mentor and a brother and a friend to me, he’s not just a coach.”
The impact of Minds United FC has spread community wide; last month they received funding from the Grenfell Project Fund voted for by North Kensington residents.
With existing and up-and-coming partnerships with St Charles Hospital and RBKC, Tarik tells me he wants to extend the reach of Minds United FC to support adults all over London struggling with mental health.
Tarik said: “I want to get more men talking about their issues. Some people think it’s a weakness to talk about your mental health, we get told we have to be strong.
“We want to break the mental health stigma.
“I want to help the team grow and be committed over a long period of time.”
As well as football, Tarik also encourages the players to get involved with volunteering, go to church, and check on each other throughout the week. He explained that football is the tool to support recovery but the group is about much more than sport.
New play aims to break stigma
In the south of the borough, theatre director, Luke Adamson and writer Tom Stocks, are bringing a play addressing men’s mental health and toxic masculinity to The Draytons Arms theatre pub in South Kensington.
The play titled Netflix and Chill, which runs this month, looks at mental struggles the main character faces in preparation for a daunting ‘Netflix and chill’ date.The production is partnering with the Mental Health Foundation and aims to use comedy to get people talking about their mental health.
Luke and Tom hope their play will move discussions forward around mental health and toxic masculinity
Luke, who has previously suffered from depression said: “We’re not saying we can offer answers. We’re not psychologists, or counsellors. We’re theatre makers who have our own mental health challenges.
“We want the audience to think about themselves and the people around them and perhaps identify behaviours that signify something isn’t quite right and encourage our audience to talk about it.”
Luke said going through his struggles with mental health, even to the point of being suicidal, placed an emphasis on the importance of bringing Netflix and Chill to life.
“Being able to talk about it [mental health] with family was empowering and made it a lot easier going forward,” Luke said.
“When the play came up I saw so much of myself in the character. I was desperate to work with him [Tom] and put my own story in it as well.”
■ To find out about Minds United, search the team on Facebook. Visit www.thedraytonarmstheatre. co.uk for Netflix and Chill details.