Head In The Game team up with Umbro Ireland in aid of mental health charities
A newly founded mental health advocacy group Head In The Game have collaborated with Umbro Ireland in an attempt to raise funds for mental health charities Jigsaw and Shine. They have come together to produce a jersey, with the proceeds being split between the respective charities.
Speaking this morning Head In The Game Chairperson Dean Arrowsmith said; “We’re delighted to have come together with Umbro Ireland to produce a bespoke jersey, with proceeds going to two fantastic charities in Jigsaw and Shine. We started as a Whatsapp group towards the end of last year so its mad to think how far we’ve come in the last few months, and we’re excited to see how our jersey is received.
Our objective as a campaign is to primarily ignite a conversation around mental health and wellbeing in the Irish footballing community. In the few months we’ve been up and running we’ve received so many messages of goodwill, and people engaging with us seeking to see how they can help and get involved. We’ve also hooked up with a number of League of Ireland clubs in getting players sponsored in our name, as well as having the privilege of Drogheda United naming their stadium after our campaign for the season. That was huge for us.
We’re not trying to reinvent the wheel, we’re just a couple of people from across the country who want to see the stigma around mental health chipped away at, and encourage people involved in Irish football to reach-out to mates or services when they find themselves struggling. That’s our main focus, but obviously, it’s great to be in the position to fundraise for two mental health charities that do cracking work throughout communities in Ireland, and always have an open door if people find themselves in need. They’re not awash with money so it good to be able to support them in delivering their services.”
Jonathan Courtenay, MD of JACC Sports who represents Umbro Ireland said; “We are honoured to work with such a vibrant and energetic group who are pushing the mental health agenda in and around Irish football. We are equally delighted to help raise funds for some fantastic charities in Shine and Jigsaw. We look forward to working on this campaign and hopefully further ones down the line. The bespoke Umbro Ireland x Head in the Game jersey will be available from 9am on Wednesday morning exclusively at www.umbro.ie ”.
