Following on from the roaring success of the State of Mind round in the First Utility Super League earlier this month, we are delighted to announce that they will be holding their first ever event in the Kingstone Press Championship, in none other than the Shay Stadium, at ‘the BIG One’.
Our third brush with local opponents, Bradford Bulls, on July 26th at The Shay Stadium, Halifax, will be the setting for the charity to promote positive mental health. State of Mind volunteers will be present on the day for a bucket collection, with mental fitness cards and flyers to celebrate the entrance of State of Mind in to the Kingstone Press Championship.
We spoke to Johnny Lawless (pictured ), a State Of Mind ambassador by day, Siddal aRLFC coach by night. He stressed the importance of mental wellbeing, saying “Personally, I’ve lost people very close to me through suicide and that’s what made me find a way to help with State Of Mind.” He began, concluding, “It’s fantastic there’ll be some recognition within the Championship, especially at such a big Derby game.”
First established within rugby league in 2011, the State of Mind movement is now a well established national charity that harnesses the power of sport to promote positive mental health among our sportsmen and women, fans and wider communities both Nationally and Internationally. The ultimate aim of the charity is to prevent suicide and signpost individuals to where they can receive care and support in their area.
A spokesperson for State of Mind said: “We would like to thank the RFL and RL Cares, for their support in allowing us to promote our cause, and League 13 for providing the mental fitness cards. We would also like to thank Halifax and Bradford for their support in getting rugby league communities to be as mentally fit as possible.”
Halifax RLFC are proud to be hosting such a unique charity, particularly at a game of this Scale. The Club would like to thank the Supporters Trust for putting their bucket collection on hold and to urge fans not to miss out on such a momentous occasion.
“The important thing here is awareness of people’s emotional state. Having support there is vitally important in the good times and the bad times. In my experience from a coaching angle, it’s not just the tactical technical skills that matter, it’s also the mental welfare of each of the individual players. My job is to make sure that when they take to the field, they’re well prepared, physically and mentally.”
This year’s campaign is ‘What’s theirs’, to find out more about the scheme and all the work State Of Mind do, please take a few minutes to have a look at their website, here: https://www.stateofmindsport.org/
ALL ROADS LEAD TO THE SHAY..