Club joins campaign to kick off biggest-ever conversation on mental health

• Tottenham Hotspur is uniting with football clubs across the country this February to support Heads Up – a mental health campaign spearheaded by HRH The Duke of Cambridge.
• The ‘Heads Up Weekends’ will see men’s and women’s teams from all leagues dedicating their matches to the initiative and encouraging conversation on mental health.
• Club Ambassador Ledley King and Tottenham Hotspur Women defender Emma Mitchell today attended event alongside HRH The Duke of Cambridge to launch the ‘Heads Up Weekends’.
• Men’s away fixture against Aston Villa on Sunday 16 February and Women’s north London derby clash at Arsenal on Sunday 9 February will be dedicated to the campaign.
• Club has been delivering programmes to promote positive mental health and wellbeing among players, staff and our local community.

Tottenham Hotspur is uniting with football clubs across the country to kick off the biggest-ever conversation on mental health.

For two weekends in February, every team from across the Premier League, English Football League, The National League, The Barclays FA Women’s Super League, The FA Women’s Championship and The FA Women’s National League will dedicate their matches to Heads Up - a partnership between The FA and Heads Together.

Spearheaded by HRH The Duke of Cambridge, Heads Up aims to harness the influence and popularity of football to normalise the conversation around mental health.

Today (Wednesday 5 February), Club Ambassador Ledley King and Tottenham Hotspur Women defender Emma Mitchell, who last year opened up about her own mental health, joined HRH at a table football tournament in central London to launch the campaign.

The ‘Heads Up Weekends’ will highlight the power of talking as a way to support one another, dispel the stigma and take steps towards improving wellbeing.

At our Men’s away fixture against Aston Villa and Women’s north London derby clash at Arsenal, the Heads Up emblem will be on display at the stadiums, in the matchday programmes and on player kit, in a major unifying moment that aims to get the nation talking about mental health.

Promoting positive mental health at Tottenham Hotspur

The Club has been delivering several programmes to promote positive mental health and wellbeing among its players, staff and local community.

Through its Foundation, the Club is a partner of the NHS England Trailblazer programme in Haringey, which aims to support school children experiencing mental health and emotional wellbeing issues through providing early intervention.

Foundation staff deliver bespoke physical activity sessions in local primary schools to help build the confidence of students and demonstrate how sport and physical activity can be used as a coping strategy for managing their own wellbeing.

The Club, through its Foundation, also works alongside Barnet, Enfield and Haringey Mental Health Trust to run a ‘Shape Up With Spurs’ exercise and nutrition programme specifically for referrals from adult mental health services, supporting the transition from a hospital back into the community.

Our charitable arm has partnered with the mental health charity Mind to support staff who experience challenging situations in their day-to-day work.

Academy players and their parents are able to take part in ‘If U Care Share’, a workshop which raises awareness of mental health issues among young people and how to find support.

The Club also provides one-to-one and group sessions with specialist staff, aimed at helping players explore how they process thoughts and develop a healthy mindset.

Whether you or someone you know is struggling, or if you want to help dispel the stigma, kick off a conversation about mental health this weekend.

Join the conversation using #KickOffAConversation and #HeadsUp.

Find out more and get tips from Heads Up’s charity partners (Mind, CALM, Sporting Chance and Heads Together) – visit www.headstogether.org.uk/heads-up.