Since 2007 we have been delivering our groundbreaking Coping Through Football project in Waltham Forest and Redbridge in partnership with NHS (NELFT) and Leyton Orient Trust.
Using football as a means of helping people with serious mental health issues get their lives back on track, we deliver six sessions a week for adults and young people. The project’s Occupational Therapist and Peer Support Worker provide support to help participants to re-engage with education, employment and volunteering opportunities.
One of our former participants Jason Kelvin was the stylist who worked with Norman Watson on a portrait of Liam Gallagher that featured on the front cover of Face magazine in the 90’s. This is his story:
After graduating with a psychology degree I joined a style magazine publishing company and became a fashion stylist and photographer. In a short space of time I was living the high life, but then depression, anxiety and paranoia hit me fast and my life slowed down. As a teenager I had suffered with clinical depression and it had returned with a vengeance. I felt alone, tired and very scared and retreated to my flat where I felt safe. I had hit rock bottom and felt that I only had one option, to take my own life.
After the suicide attempt I returned to my GP for support and she recommended Coping Through Football. Although sceptical at how football was going to help me, I attended my first session and found a safe and positive atmosphere, organised by an Occupational Therapist and delivered by a qualified football coach. There was no need for discussions, no pressure to talk about my illness unless I wanted to; I could just have some fun and forget about my problems. I went home feeling much calmer and more relaxed than I had done in years. As I fell into a pattern of attending two sessions a week my confidence returned and I was able to become myself again.
The OT noticed this improvement and asked if I would be interested in gaining a football qualifications and I subsequently became an FA Level 2 Coach and a qualified referee. Since then, I have been able to use my experience at CTF to become a Mental Health Lead Officer at Arsenal Football Club and to assist cross channel swims. I currently host a weekly hospital radio show and am the founder and deliverer of a project which uses photography as a means of improving the well-being of teenagers and young adults struggling with their mental health.
Thanks to Oasis we can thank the Coping Through Football staff and two of its beneficiaries.
Coping Through Football is simplistic in its genius. It put smiles back on drained faces, it makes young people feel life again and want to be somebody. CTF has helped others, like me, get jobs, learn new skills and feel a part of society. Medicine may have jogged me back into life, but Coping Through Football and London Playing Fields Foundation without question SAVED my life
To learn more about the project watch our inspiring film or click on the link below
Coping Through Football