The Teesside under-9s football team raising thousands of pounds for mental health

Jamie Pitt is a volunteer football coach for Stockton Town Football Club’s U9 Blues team. When he needed a kit sponsor, he decided to do things a little differently. The children worked hard to raise more than £700 for the Russ Devereux Headlight Project so that this incredible local mental health charity could sponsor their team at no cost to them. Now, on 4^th September, Jamie is taking on the Middlesbrough 10K to raise even more money for the organisation.

“There’s been a bit of a mental health pandemic after Covid,” Jamie explains. “Suicide is one of the main causes of early death for young males, and it’s important to get that message across, especially to children.”

The Russ Devereux Headlight Project is a Teesside-based charity started by Catherine Devereux, after her husband Russ tragically took his own life in 2018. The organisation provides grief support to bereaved children and adults all across the region. When Jamie was looking for a kit sponsor, a friend who knew Russ and had also received counselling through the charity after the suicide of another friend suggested he reach out to the RDHP.

Although Jamie was intrigued by the charity and really admired their work, he didn’t want them to have to spend their money on kit for the boys. “We raised over £700 for them so they could sponsor us,” Jamie explains. “We did sponsored walks, a fun day of activities at the local park, things like that.”

Their partnership with the charity has also helped Jamie teach his team about mental health in a way that’s appropriate for children. He explains how Suzanne, who works for the RDHP, came and spoke to the boys. “She talked to them about how to reach out for support and how to know which avenues to go down if you need to talk to someone.” She also helped them understand what suicide was, and Jamie recalls that they took it very seriously and had some very insightful questions.

Jamie feels strongly that being part of a team, being active, and forming strong friendships helps children to develop a strong foundation for good mental health early in life. “Helping the kids know how to look after themselves fuses really nicely with football,” Jamie says. “Because they’re outside, playing football, and just having fun with their friends.”

When the RDHP asked if Jamie would like to run the Middlesbrough 10K to raise money for their charity, he was quick to say yes. Although “running’s all peaks and troughs as you get older”, Jamie was a long distance runner when he was younger and is excited to get back out there. The 10K will be his first ever organised race as an adult, so he’s looking forward to giving it a go.

 “It’s good to be running for a purpose. The majority of people there will be doing it for charitable purposes so I’ll be running with people who are doing it for all sorts of personal reasons.” Jamie’s set a goal of £500, but he hopes to smash it. To see his JustGiving page, click here. We can’t wait to see Jamie at the Middlesbrough 10K – best of luck!