Saracens supporting Mental Health Awareness Week

It’s Mental Health Awareness Week, with the core focus being loneliness, and we will be giving it all of the attention it deserves with plenty of activity throughout the Saracens channels over the coming days. 

At the club we place a huge emphasis on mental health and this gives us the chance to highlight the work put in both on and off the pitch.

We can all experience levels of loneliness at times in our life and we know that some people are at a higher risk of loneliness than others. Evidence clearly shows that the longer we feel lonely the
greater risk there is of experiencing poor mental health. 

Through the work of the Saracens Foundation and other initiatives across the Saracens Group, such as the Pioneers Programme, we are doing some wonderful work within our community to tackle loneliness and the risk that it poses.

The Saracens Foundation will impact the lives of over  65,000 people throughout the 2021/22 season, and one of the programmes is the hugely popular Love2Dance.

275 adults attend with an average age of 72 years, with over 50 hours of Dance Classes every week. 92% of attendees say they have more friends since joining, and an incredible 95% have improved their physical health during that time. 

On Tuesday we will be giving you an insight into the impact of this programme, with both Sue and Valerie who attend. “If I’m not having my best day I always feel so much better physically and mentally after a class.” Was how Valerie described her evenings at StoneX Stadium.

Wednesday will see an article published focusing on our Chief Steward Paul Lazarus, who penned an incredible tribute to the club whilst describing his personal battle with mental health. 

Another Foundation programme will take focus on Thursday with the DisABILITY Programme taking centre stage, and we will be shining a light on the group of players who regularly attend the sessions and get huge enjoyment out of helping others both physically and mentally. 

Our incredible Pioneers, who are so well respected around StoneX Stadium by everyone on match days will be featured on Friday. We will be catching up with members of the programme and sharing their stories, as they talk about how the Pioneers programme has helped them create new friendships and alleviate the risks posed by loneliness.

On Saturday Alex Lewington, who is an ambassador with LooseHeadz which continually support positive Mental Health, will be talking about how he battles mental health as a professional athlete and how he continues to perform at the top of his game. 

We hope that the week will help anyone who is currently in need of support, and they can be assured that Saracens are right behind them!