Professional Cricketers' Trust teams up with Sporting Chance after rise in mental health-related issues
Thursday 19 March 2020 14:47, UK
Every professional cricketer will be able to access mental health support thanks to a new partnership between the Professional Cricketers' Trust and Sporting Chance.
A record 85 PCA members - including 40 current players - were diagnosed with mental health-related issues in 2019, a sharp rise on 2018 (72) and 2017 (59).
Sporting Chance will now operate the PCA's dedicated Confidential Helpline that is funded by the Trust - a 24-hour, 365 day-per-year support network available to all PCA members, whether they're currently playing or retired.
The PCA already runs gambling awareness workshops and, among other services, offers support through the Thrive Mental Health App.
Sporting Chance founder Tony Adams, who believes coronavirus' impact on sport and athletes could lead to a rise in mental health cases, explained: "Our aim is to get the world of professional cricket to know what we do and how they can access our services. The primary goal is to make sure we can get the right help to the right people.
"We're not doing it for the Trust or for Sporting Chance, we're doing it for the cricketer who picks up the phone and needs that help. We have to remember that helping the individual is our primary purpose."
Director of the Professional Cricketers' Trust, Ian Thomas, said: "Over the past year or so we've been working with Sporting Chance to supply both education and mental health provisions to current and former professional cricketers.
"The Trust is very proud of the support it has put in place over the past ten years for cricketers struggling with mental health problems, and this partnership is another important step in that process.
"We are looking forward to Sporting Chance's vast network throughout the country and beyond offering its support to our members after a record 85 cases were diagnosed last year."
Sporting Chance now works within 14 different sports, extensively with organisations such as the Professional Footballers' Association (PFA) and the Rugby Football League (RFL).
