The FA and Heads Together Leverage Football to Spark Conversation Around Mental Health

Dark Horses and Fuse have been appointed by The Football Association (The FA) and Heads Together to design and deliver Heads Up, a ground-breaking initiative using the influence and popularity of football to help inspire the biggest ever conversation around mental health.

Heads Up was announced today at Wembley Stadium by The Duke of Cambridge, FA’s chief executive Martin Glenn and Mind chief executive Paul Farmer.  

The Duke of Cambridge and England manager Gareth Southgate feature in an emotive film outlining the Heads Up manifesto, which was premiered at the announcement today. The film also includes Lionesses’ legend Kelly Smith, members of Barnet Walking Football Team, the founders of FC Not Alone, Matt Legg and Ian McKenzie. To watch and download the film click here.

Heads Up will be launched at The FA Community Shield in August 2019 and will culminate at The Emirates FA Cup Final in May 2020. The campaign will be visible across all levels of football in England throughout the course of the 2019/20 season, including the men’s and women’s England teams, FA competitions and grassroots. 

During the season dedicated promotional activity will aim to spark conversations while resources and training will be available to all football participants and FA staff. 

Stephen Hutchison, managing director at Fuse, commented: “There couldn’t be a better time to launch this campaign with The FA and Heads Together, with the conversation on mental wellbeing being powered by something people feel passionately about – football. We are thrilled to be working on this campaign and think it is a game changer for the discussion around mental health.”

Dark Horses founder Simon Dent added: “The current narrative around mental health is leading to perceptions that mental health is a black and white issue; it’s something you suffer from you or you don’t. This campaign tries to get people to recognise that mental health is something that we all have and need to maintain, just like our physical health.”