KATE LANDS ROLE AS A ‘CHAMPION’
OSSETT United have taken the step of appointing their first Mental Health Champion.
Kate Hennighan, who has been involved with the club for over two years, is a rehabilitation therapist for the NHS and has been trained as a Mental Health Champion and fulfills the role for her work colleagues.
Hennighan will work with the first team, u18s, and women’s side of the Northern Premier League Division One East outfit.
Hennighan said of her work: “Being involved at the club, you could see different signs and people are quieter than they usually are.
“Nobody knew that I did the mental health champion thing at work, so it was kind of a surprise to people, but they readily accepted it and said it would be a massive help to the team.”
Mental health often has stigma attached in a sporting environment but Hennighan says that there has been a very positive reaction.
“I drafted an email to send out to all the players but added a little bit at the top to make it personal to themm” she added.
“I didn’t want to do a group email because things like that often get missed, so I wanted to make it personal. I talked about how they had been playing and if they had an injury and different things and it was a really good response that I got back.
“I’ve had about ten responses, I only sent the emails out last Sunday, so that to me in such a short space of time is fantastic.
“But the other thing was after the game on Saturday, just discussing with people in the bar.
“I had someone come up to me and have one of those difficult conversations just stood at the bar.
“He said ‘I can’t believe I’ve been able to do this in a bar. This has been bothering me for going on for two years and I’ve actually been able to do it’.
“So, for me that is fantastic to be able to make a little difference to people.”
Ossett hope that appointing a Mental Health Champion will encourage other clubs to begin to confront the issue.
“This is the reason we wanted to put pictures out and an article on Twitter and Instagram from the club’s account and get in contact with yourselves,” Hennighan concluded.
“That’s the hope, that people will do it.”