In her job with Derby City Council’s engineering projects team, Sarah works closely with public health teams to support their suicide prevention strategies and is well aware of the issue of poor mental health among men working in construction.
In early 2023, she started to set up a football game, which was due to take place at a local park between her engineering department and construction contractors, the purpose; to start conversations about mental health and raise awareness of suicide statistics.
This kickaround got the ball rolling and led to a football tournament at Derby’s Moorways Sports Village to raise the awareness of male’s mental health in construction, and as a fundraiser for mental health charity Mind Derbyshire.
And this year Sarah and her colleagues are working with Baton of Hope Derbyshire to organise the Can You Kick It? seven-aside football tournament at Racecourse Derby on Saturday July 5.
Born out of Baton of Hope, a national charitable organisation founded by two fathers who lost their sons to suicide, the newly formed Derbyshire charity is touring the city and county this year and holding a series of events.
Sarah – who in 2022 became DCG’s first female higher apprentice to pass End Point Assessment (EPA) on the Level 4 Higher Apprenticeship in Professional Construction (Construction Site Engineering Technician Standard) – said: “Part of my work involves supporting suicide prevention strategies and those relating to the city council’s highway network.
“This includes working with other highway network owners, communicating any issues to the right professionals, evaluating any maintenance we can undertake around preventative work and being aware of mental health support services.
Statistics show us that mental health problems are an issue for male employees in different industries, construction included.
Men can be reluctant to seek help due to stigma and beliefs about masculinity, for example. There’s lots of work happening to support mental health conditions, but stigma is still prevalent.
I advocate the message that mental health charities and organisations put out there that ‘preventing suicide is everyone’s business.’
There are lots of training resources available, which may help you understand how you could support somebody in crisis by doing some of the leading charities’ free online training modules.”
Supported by Derby City Council, Leisure United, and Derbyshire County Council the seven aside competition is free to enter, with May 18 the closing date for team signups.
It’s open to workplace teams, groups of friends, local organisations or anyone who just fancies a game.
Players must be 18 or over and wear football/exercise gear with astroturf-friendly footwear.
Sarah who comes from a family of fervent Derby County supporters, enjoys the beautiful game but doesn’t play football herself, apart from a kickabout with her grandson who plays for Belper Town’s Under 7s.
She added: “The tournament is set to be a great family day out, whether you’re playing footie or not, and it has an important message for everyone.
“We have 17 teams to date, with a mix of male and female players signed up so far so don’t miss out.”
