How sport sessions are supporting mental health in Mental Health Awareness Week
This week is Mental Health Awareness Week, from May 10th to the 16th
Stockport sports consultant Steve Flynn is shining a light on Mental Health Awareness week having experienced first-hand the benefit sport has on not only your physical health but also on your mental health and general wellbeing.
Steve first stepped into a boxing ring in January 2018 after starting his first Lottery-funded project, working with Signpost Young Carers. Based at John Murray’s gyn in Reddish, he arranged some sessions for the children introducing them to sports activities and events.
It wasn’t long before Steve realised he had ‘an itch that needed scratching’ and summoned the nerve to have some 1:1 training sessions with John; very soon and at the age of 47, he found himself training 3 or 4 times a week on the 6.00 am sessions.
Steve explains:
“It had a huge impact on my health, mentally and physically and came at a time when I really needed it. I’ve struggled with depression and anxiety for many years and having stopped running and playing football because of injury, there was a real gap in my own self-care which I hadn’t really appreciated at the time. The boxing gym, and crucially the lads I trained with, provided a form of ‘social prescribing’ for me albeit that wasn’t a term I was familiar with at the time.”
On the back of his experience in the ‘Murray Machines’ gym, Steve set up his own non-contact boxing and wellbeing programme, ‘In Your Corner’, starting with a weekly men’s group in Brinnington and soon after, a women’s group in the town centre gym, Zestus Fitness.
“I’ve been lucky to get the support of both the Brinnington Big Local and the Stockport Local Fund to get these programmes off the ground and to experiment with them a little to see what works best for participants. I’ve had great backing from Stockport’s mental health support network too who recognise the importance of physical activity for the people they are working with. The sessions have proven to be really popular and there is clearly something about boxing in particular that helps build self-confidence and self-esteem. Importantly, we’ve created a really good sense of community over the past 18 months or so and have facilitated new friendships along the way too.”
In Your Corner has now become ‘BOOST’ and, after a lengthy period of being restricted to delivering online sessions, which also saw the addition of a weekly yoga session, Steve is now expanding the programme of weekly BOOST activities.
“We have been delivering a weekly boxing session in Vernon Park since restrictions started to ease and this has given us the added benefit of being out in the open air and in green space, another positive driver for good wellbeing. On the boxing front, we’re going to be restarting a weekly women’s group later in May (@ Brinnington Life Leisure) as well as a regular boxing class specifically in support of autism and ADHD (@ Zestus Fitness) which Sector3 are kindly supporting. We’ve also partnered with Beagle Foundation and The Prevention Alliance to deliver a weekly mixed football session at the PowerLeague. And we’re hoping to launch some low level physical activity sessions too, including bowls classes at some of the greens across the borough.”
There’s lots going on but we know the need is great too which is why we’re keen to increase the number of sports and physical activity sessions available in Stockport that are specifically geared to support our mental health and to combat social isolation and loneliness.
For further information on BOOST sessions, contact Steve Flynn at steve@the-thread.uk
