In a pandemic and hyperconnected society, football emerges as a way to contribute to social inclusion and mental health. Join me in an interview with this Blackburn project.
A cold winter friday freezes the sidewalks. Passers-by venture out on this morning bundled up in bulky jackets, hats, and gloves. The grass that covers the entrance to Witton Park shines with a fine layer of snow while the players who have gathered for another day of the Social Inclusion League are preparing on the football field.
In the heat of a last sip of tea, a quick smoke, and a moment of laughter, the boots are getting ready, and the teams are forming. This combination of low temperatures and football offers a perfect portrait of Blackburn.
In this city that faces challenges in issues such as mental health and inclusion, the Creative Football project arises, led by Paul Hardman, Wayne Beck, and Paul Davies, with the aim of strengthening ties in the community and contributing through sport.
In their office in Witton, I talked with Wayne Beck and Anthony Whittaker, to learn more about the project. Here I share some fragments of our conversation:
M: I’d like to ask you for a bit of an introduction to the project. For how long it has been going on and a little bit of the stuff that you’re working on in Creative Football.
W.B: Creative Football come about on the back of over a decade ago, creating support through a social inclusion service. It started as a football session, just trying to do things differently. Paul Hardman started out with six or seven people and on the back of that, we started the Social Inclusion League with services from around the area. Quite quickly that grew. so over a decade, that’s been going on.
/ What we offer is football bringing people together. It’s a universal language, as we all see. No matter what background you are, no matter where you’re from, no matter what size, what age. I think the youngest is 16 and the oldest is 66. It’s about coming together. Having to kick about as soon as you pass a ball to somebody.
/ So, the reason why we do this is because we all got a story and we know how it felt to need somebody and want somebody, and that’s why we do what we do.
/ Out there on a session, you could have people that have been through substance misuse, suffering with mental health, or living with mental health, let’s say. Going through all these things. As time goes on, that person who was struggling now helps the next person. Peer support sometimes is underrated, it’s not even seen or acknowledged at times. A lot of our guys have come as service users like myself and Anthony, and now we want to give back.
M: How football can help people that are isolated or feeling excluded from society, after the pandemics or different factors. How can football improve that?
W.B: When we explain about these sessions, we always say come down not to see it, feel it. Over the years you hear people going «I’m coming, I’m coming». But the anxiety, the worry, am I good enough? Am I this? am I going to fit in? happens. You come down to the first session, by the end of it it’s like they’ve been there for years because everyone’s been through that. They’re so welcoming.
We call it the onion effect. You see them layers start coming away. So, all of a sudden that comes down, that layer comes off. They built a friendship; they pass the ball straight away. They’ve got support, they’ve got friends straight away. They’ve got people cheering them on. They’ve got people clapping them. They’ve got people high fiving them, giving them fist pumps and all this stuff. We all need that in life. We all need somebody.
/ It’s just universal language. Another natural place of learning a language. Sometimes some of the language might not be the best (laughs), but instantly someone wants to talk to you. In places like this are the kindest, most caring, most compassionate people. People that struggle because they just want a friend, they want somebody and they’re the most vulnerable.
M: I would like to extend a little bit on the idea of football as a therapy, specifically with mental health. How can football turn into therapy?
W.B: Yeah. It’s a well-known thing about endorphins. There’s a thing called gym by prescription. Doctors tend to give that out. Football therapy is to come and get the endorphins going, to feel good. Natural endorphins just come on to automatically get you to go
With some people’s strategies, they might wait for it, but it might be the most self-destructives. So, we’re talking about alcohol, drugs, and stuff like that. Well, you can flip that to a more positive one and get the endorphins going. That clears the mind.
We see lads coming down carrying anger and they’re running. About by the 40, 50th minute, it’s gone. We’ve got people always sad, who come down really upset. 40, 50 minutes, and it’s gone. Football therapy can be replicated in any sport. But there’s so much of it here because with it you’re getting companionship. You’re getting friendships. You’re getting exercise. You’re getting endorphins. These are all the things that are safe to do.
A special thanks to Wayne and Anthony for allowing this conversation. People interested in learning more about this project or getting involved in some of its activities can visit their website creativefootball.co.uk and follow them on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter. There will always be a friendly hand ready to help!
