Former British No 1 tennis ace, Tim Henman, and current No 1 British wheelchair tennis player Lucy Shuker have helped launch Sport in Mind’s million-pound regional project that will use sport to help improve the health and wellbeing of local people experiencing mental health problems.

 

Sport in Mind, an independent mental health charity (unaffiliated to Mind), were joined by the tennis aces to launch the project that has received £830,000 of funding from Sport England and will work in partnership with NHS trusts across the South East and Dorset. The project will provide thousands of people experiencing mental health problems across the region the opportunity to engage in sport and physical activity groups in a supported environment to help aid recovery.

The charity, which was formed in 2010 and has gained national acclaim, operates with a simple mission: "To improve the lives of people experiencing mental health problems through sport and physical activity".

Sport in Mind’s new £1.5 million project will not only provide sport and physical activity groups for people experiencing mental health problems in the community, it will also provide services in inpatient care in order to help people get active when they are most unwell. The programme will provide a broad range of activities to appeal to the widest possible audience including football, badminton, yoga, table tennis and tennis… much to the delight of Tim Henman and Lucy Shuker.

Sport in Mind’s work, which has supported the recovery of over 10,000 people to date, has recently been honoured with the Queen’s Award for Voluntary Services, the highest award a charity can receive.

Sport in Mind’s Founder Neil Harris says: "Sport in Mind are very pleased and honoured to be joined by Tim and Lucy to launch this Sport England funded project with our NHS partners. We’re all incredibly excited to get this project up and running and using sport to help combat isolation and improve the lives of local people experiencing mental health problems”.