'Everton in the Community saved my life'

Teams from around the country congregated on Merseyside on Monday for the National Mental Health Football Championships, hosted by Everton in the Community (EitC) to mark World Mental Health Day.

The tournament, held at the Goals Sports Centre in Netherton, featured players involved in mental health and wellbeing programmes representing community initiatives from Hull City, Middlesbrough, Stoke City, Blackburn Rovers, Carlisle United as well as EitC's Imagine Your Goals, which has been running since 2008 and tackles mental health issues among different groups within the local community.

One of the participants and volunteers involved in EitC's Imagine Your Goals is Colin Dolan, who is bipolar, and who credits the programme with saving his life.

"The intervention and support Everton in the Community gave me has been utterly amazing," he said. "I see it everyday with the boys I play football with.

"Because you see people doing well it gives you that sense of belief that I can do this as well, I can improve my life, and without a shadow of a doubt, I wouldn't be here."

The annual football event is organised to raise awareness of World Mental Health Day and the benefits that physical activity can have on a person's mental health wellbeing.

"Everybody loves playing football and the lads talk to each other to share their issues, which is what it is all about," former Everton midfielder and club ambassador Graham Stuart told evertonfc.com. "These people are inspirational.

"All of the participants have seen very dark days in their lives but they have come to an event like this and are surrounded by people with similar issues that they have had to deal with in their life. Imagine Your Goals changes and saves people’s lives - and it’s not an exaggeration to say that."

See: Everton's National Mental Health Football Championships | Imagine Your Goals