The Press and Journal (Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire)
Pittodrie project on the ball over mental health
An Aberdeen man has opened up about the “life changing” impact of a programme which uses football to promote mental health.
Kyle Hewitt, from Dyce, grew up aware of the impact of mental health problems and how they affect other people.
It was those experiences that inspired him to get involved as a facilitator in The Changing Room – a 12-week mental health programme – at Pittodrie Stadium around two years ago.
The scheme supports men to open up as they participate in walking football games, stadium tours, pitch-side walks and talks from a motivational speaker.
But it was only through chatting to other men on the project that he realised he had been “deflecting” and not dealing with what was going on in his own life.
Kyle decided to get involved as a participant in the programme’s Extra Time initiative, which provides additional group sessions for people to speak more deeply about their mental wellbeing.
Kyle told the Press & Journal: “When the Extra Time project came up, I decided to jump into this more as a participant and tackle some of my own stuff head on.
“It was life-changing in terms of how I deal with situations.”
The 37-year-old said he went through a “rough patch” around three to four years ago.
“I didn’t deal with it very well”, he says. “I wasn’t nice to be around. I was pretty inward.
“If I think back to what I went through at that time, it’s absolutely nothing in comparison to what I’ve gone through since January this year.
“I’ve managed to take this in my stride and continue to be on a level playing field and be strong.
“It has given me more resilience and taught me about not suffering in silence, not being alone and having a support network, which for men is quite a hard thing to do.
“It breaks down some of those fears and barriers for them.”
The Changing Room – Extra Time initiative is delivered by SAMH (Scottish Action for Mental Health) in partnership with the SPFL Trust and associated community trusts at Aberdeen, Rangers, Hearts and Hibernian.
Health Secretary Neil
Gray visited Pittodrie yesterday to announce the project has been awarded £100,000 for a fourth year.
He told the P&J it is important for men to have the opportunity to open up about their mental health issues with others.
The senior SNP minister pointed to a recent video by former first minister Humza Yousaf in which he shared his struggles with his own mental health.
He said: “It’s absolutely very important for men in positions that the former first minister occupied to be speaking about this.
“I know that when I’m able to get to the gym, to go for a run, to football and other activities, it has a beneficial impact on my mental health.
“And when we’re not feeling as good, making sure we can turn to services like that provided here by the trust is really important.”
Billy Watson, chief executive at SAMH, said the project has “changed and saved lives”.
He added: “We’ve got evidence that men tend to be slower to seek help for mental health and they seek it in different places in terms of that support.
“Football stadiums like Pittodrie provide a place where they have a natural affinity.
“They can be shoulder to shoulder having a conversation which they may not have in a GP surgery or anywhere else.
“That’s a door opener and our job is then to come in and help build confidence and resilience and provide a programme where they will get the help they need and have a peer group that has walked in their shoes.”