Northampton Town FC Community Trust are delighted to announce that they have been successful in their bid for funding from The National Lottery Community Fund.
The grant, totalling £9,807.00 will go towards a new mental health navigators project. This will see the Community Trust deliver free Mental Health First Aid courses which will train up 70 people from local schools, businesses and third sector organisations across Northamptonshire to become ‘mental health aware’, or mental health navigators.
This nationally recognised course from Mental Health First Aid England (MHFA) will enable people to better understand, recognise, address and help improve other people's mental health during this time. This will help communities to support each other and signpost people to local support services at an earlier stage. Through the project, this will then also create a network of mental health navigators across Northamptonshire which can continue to support in the longer term too.
Phillip Smith, Northampton Town FC Community Trust CEO said: “We are delighted to have been successful in this bid for funding from The National Lottery Community Fund. COVID-19 and lockdown has already had a huge effect on people’s mental health and will likely continue to do so for some time. Recognising the signs and changes in mental health earlier, providing support and signposting to services before this escalates can make a significant positive difference to people’s lives. We’re excited to roll this project out to help do this."
This project builds on the existing work Northampton Town FC Community Trust already does to support people across the community with mental health and wellbeing over the last year which includes mental health football sessions in partnership with St Andrews Healthcare, targeted wellbeing interventions in schools and the Every Player Counts programme.
The Mental Health Navigators project commences immediately with the first course planned in August. Six free half day courses, delivered via zoom, will be offered to the public, staff in local businesses, third sector organisations and schools. Due to the current COVID-19 restrictions, this project has been adapted so that it can be delivered virtually but can also be delivered in person where restrictions allow.
For more information on our Mental Health First Aid courses and how we can help you and your organisation please contact Programmes Manager, Anna Letts on Anna.Letts@ntfc.co.uk