For a lot of MAN v FAT gamers, stepping out onto the pitch after becoming a member of the programme is the primary time in a few years that they’ve kicked a ball.
However, after pulling on the boots once more, the lads typically get the urge for food to play extra soccer as their health grows.
Our MAN v FAT St Helens gamers are taking this to the intense, with an upcoming fundraising occasion in August, the place they’ll play for twenty-four hours to lift funds for the Sean’s Place charity.
Sean’s Place is a males’s psychological well being charity that goals to enhance males’s psychological well being and well-being throughout Merseyside, by means of help particularly recognized to enhance confidence and shallowness for males while lowering despair, stress and anxiousness and suicidal ideas.
Debbie Rogers, CEO and Founder, stated: “”Enormous thanks to everybody at MAN v FAT for selecting Sean’s Place to help. To have so many males selecting to participate to lift consciousness of psychological well being for different males and fundraise to help our service is unimaginable.
“That is how we actually save lives collectively. Easiest of luck to everybody collaborating, and thanks on behalf of all of us at Sean’s Place!”
To seek out out extra in regards to the occasion, we caught up with Beck Phillips, who has had a profitable weight reduction journey with MAN v FAT, who gave us all the important thing information.
1) Inform us how the concept for the fundraising sport took place?
The concept took place when one among our lads, who’d simply returned from damage, was desperate to play, however we didn’t have sufficient individuals out there that night. He was going to overlook the following session too, so it felt like we’d hit a little bit of a soccer drought. Somebody joked, “I might play for twenty-four hours straight,” simply to make up for the dearth of video games. That joke shortly became a severe dialogue, and we thought, why not?
A 24-hour match might be an ideal approach to convey everybody collectively, get energetic once more, and lift cash for a superb trigger. We put out a ballot to see if others had been on board, and the response was overwhelmingly optimistic. It was clear this wasn’t only a one-off thought—it was one thing everybody needed to get behind. And from there, issues snowballed quick, with native venues and sponsors leaping in to assist make it occur.
2) The St Helens membership has constructed a improbable neighborhood within the final couple of years – how have the lads obtained behind this and different neighborhood based mostly concepts?
The St Helens lads are fiercely aggressive, however what actually stands out is how welcoming and supportive we’re as a bunch. We push one another to be higher, whether or not that’s on the pitch or in supporting native causes. We’ve all the time obtained one another’s backs, and it’s that unity that makes us stronger.
As a membership, we’ve raised over £6,000 for numerous charities and native causes, together with fundraising for Oddballs and Muscular Dystrophy UK. We’ve completed a lot of charity drives and all the time be sure that to rally across the neighborhood when wanted. Whether or not it’s a group member operating an occasion or us collectively pitching in for a superb trigger, we’re all the time able to step up and assist the place we will.
3) How did the membership come to decide on the trigger?
As a bunch, everyone knows how essential bodily well being is—that’s why we joined MANvFAT within the first place. However psychological well being is simply as very important, and infrequently doesn’t get the eye it deserves. We felt it was essential to help a trigger that tackles that facet of issues head-on. After we appeared into choices, Sean’s Place actually stood out.
Their work is about eradicating obstacles and offering instant, non-judgemental help to males throughout Merseyside—serving to to cut back isolation, anxiousness, and despair. After listening to their story and the way the trigger was arrange in reminiscence of Sean, it struck a chord with numerous us. Selecting them was a straightforward choice.
4) What excites you most in regards to the occasion and what do you assume would be the greatest challenges?
In the beginning, what excites us most is the possibility to do one thing actual to help Sean’s Place. If this occasion helps elevate consciousness, begins conversations, or makes a tangible distinction to even one individual, it’ll be value each aching muscle. Realizing that we’re backing a trigger that gives instant, life-changing help to males who’re struggling—that’s the actual driver for us.
On prime of that, there’s the thrill of seeing the neighborhood rally collectively, particularly in these powerful evening hours when power’s low and group spirit carries you thru. The largest problem will likely be preserving everybody going for the total 24 hours—however with the trigger we’re taking part in for, we’ll discover a approach to dig deep.