Players lead Mental Health Awareness Week

The PCA and the Professional Cricketers’ Trust are to lead the way in Mental Health Awareness Week by demonstrating genuine support mechanisms and raising awareness for their members.

The PCA takes the welfare and wellbeing of its members with the utmost seriousness, and the Association is proud of the support network it provides. The PCA works in collaboration with the Trust, which offers the PCA’s membership and their immediate families support when they need it most.

As part of the week, running from Monday 9 May to Sunday 15 May, the Association will release content throughout the week with real life stories from current and former players who have bravely shared their stories. These will demonstrate how members have been affected and how the Association’s resources have helped to provide a solution.

PCA Vice Chair Anuj Dal has started the week with a video explaining the importance of Mental Health Awareness Week to his fellow members and just how the PCA can help. The aim of the Association is to encourage people who are struggling to reach out for support following a content series that educates and puts people at ease with speaking out.

Data collected by the Trust revealed the Association supported 106 individuals in 2021 alone, which took the total number since 2015 to 526.

Mental Health Awareness Week was started 21 years ago by The Mental Health Foundation – and the PCA is again proud to be supporting the week. This year it is focusing on loneliness and the effect it is having on more and more people in the UK. The Mental Health Foundation will be raising awareness of the impacts of loneliness and the practical steps it can take to address it.

Any current or former professional cricketer in England and Wales battling with their mental health can seek help. The Thrive wellbeing app is NHS-approved and made available for free to all members. It includes in-app coaching from qualified therapists and is clinically proven to help manage stress and mental health using simple, accessible, everyday tools. It allows members to access cognitive behavioural therapy programmes and mindfulness techniques. The intention is to help PCA members to be more proactive in improving their mental wellbeing.

The Association also provides a Confidential Helpline, operated by Sporting Chance and it is accessible 24-hours a day for 365 days a year. The helpline is available to all PCA members, whether they are currently playing or retired.

Members may also choose to seek support directly through The Trust or their regional Personal Development Manager – which can be found on the PCA’s website.

Ian Thomas, Director of Member Services at the PCA and Director of the Professional Cricketers’ Trust, is proud of the support system available for cricketers in this country. Thomas hopes Mental Health Awareness Week will help encourage others to speak up and reach out for help should they need it.

“One of our main objectives is to make sure we are taking care of our members’ welfare and wellbeing.

“We are proud of the things we do in cricket and the support the Association offers our members. Either by being proactive and putting on workshops to educate players, or by signposting members for specific specialist care. The more people we can help – the better.

“Mental Health Awareness Week is a fantastic initiative to help break down the stigma around mental health and to encourage more people to reach out if they are struggling.

“Cricketers up and down the country have gone through an extremely challenging couple of years, with multiple lockdowns. We want our members to know exactly what support is available, and if they need it, where can they find it.”