Sussex Cricket launches 'groundbreaking' mental health hub
It's the first of its kind for a sports team in the UK
A brand new online mental health and wellbeing platform is being launched by Sussex Cricket on Monday (January 18th).
The free-to-access hub is the first of its kind for a professional sports club in the world and has been launched with the support of the team's players, including England World Cup winner Sarah Taylor.
Developed with the support of Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust, it's been designed to help users 'find hope and support through the power of shared, lived experiences'.
One of the main points of the platform is the 'Champions Cinema', which contains thousands of videos of 60 seconds of less where people from the Sussex Cricket community and beyond share their experiences from an A to Z of topics that impact or can help with our mental health and wellbeing.
Contributors include Sussex Cricket players and staff – including Taylor, club cricketers, experts from Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust as well as individuals from a whole host of backgrounds and life experiences.
Sarah Taylor, Sussex player, World Cup winner and nominee for ICC Women’s Player of the Decade, said:
“I know from my own experiences how helpful it is to share how we’re feeling when it comes to looking after our mental wellbeing. Sussex’s new platform is a wonderful way of taking the power of shared experience and using it to give as many people as possible support and hope.
"With all the challenges of the last year and this current lockdown, there couldn’t be a better time for an innovation like this.
"I’m proud to have shared my experiences on the platform alongside so many other people from all walks of life. I’m sure the hub is going to make a big difference.”
The fully searchable library also provides links to trusted local resources and further help relevant to the videos being viewed by a user.
The Sussex Cricket Mental Health & Wellbeing Hub is completely free to use by anybody with an internet connection and requires no registration, ensuring complete anonymity for users.
The platform came to life after a Sussex Cricket working group, chaired by club president, Sir Rod Aldridge, was tasked with finding ways in which Sussex Cricket with its prominent role and significant reach in the community could make a meaningful and long-lasting contribution to addressing issues exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Sir Rod Aldridge, Sussex Cricket president, said:
“We are extremely proud to be breaking new ground as the first sports club in the world to support its community in this way. We have long been able to count on people’s support and we’re delighted to be offering some support back in an area that is so important, particularly now.
"It was felt with our connectivity across the entire spectrum of age, gender, background and personal circumstances that Sussex Cricket is ideally placed to reach out to our supporters and wider community at such a challenging time.
"The Sussex Cricket Mental Health & Wellbeing Hub, with a seal of approval from the NHS, harnesses the power of shared experience – so vital when it comes to addressing our mental health - and provides an innovative and accessible ‘one-stop shop’ for people to easily access support across a huge range of topics. I hope people find it useful.”
Sam Allen, Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust CEO, said:
“The COVID-19 pandemic has threatened our personal safety, disrupted our daily routines, uprooted our lives and shaken our world.
"It isn’t easy to maintain mental wellbeing, personal resilience and optimism when we are surrounded and affected by such unsettling uncertainty.
"This is why I’m so pleased we are working with Sussex Cricket on this fantastic resource to provide advice, information and support about mental health and wellbeing for our local communities.”
The Sussex Cricket Mental Health & Wellbeing Hub is available now to anyone that needs it at sussexcricket.frog.net.
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