Tackle The Stigma

March 2025

Laced up my rugby boots to support a cause very close to my heart: the importance of looking after your mental health and looking out for each other.

I’ve always been open about my own occasional mental health challenges, and how useful it was for me to get some professional help when I needed it.

So when my rugby club, Bowdon RUFC, asked me to play for its veterans side against a Looseheadz XV I leapt at the chance. Looseheadz is committed to placing a mental health lead in every rugby club around the world and supporting them with a toolkit of resources and help.

The Looseheadz campaign, #TackleTheStigma, is brilliant and aims to help players, staff, and fans, if and when they need it. So far more than 1,200 rugby clubs in 28 countries have joined up with Looseheadz and it’s making a real difference.

So pulling on the Bowdon shirt and throwing myself into the game was the least I can do to help. And, as the pictures show, it was a full-on day. The Bowdon team never flagged even though we weren’t as fit and sharp as we’d like to have been - thank goodness for rolling subs!

In the end we lost narrowly by 8 tries to 6 and, I’ll be honest, I’ve not ached as much since I ran the London Marathon over 15 years ago.

But, as they say, rugby was the winner and it was a brilliant afternoon to support a really good cause. Thanks to Clive Wilkins at Bowdon RUFC, and Nigel Brierley from LooseHeadz for all their hard work to arrange the fixture and get the game on.

Final word - do check out the Loozeheadz account and if you can help them then please so.

Thanks, Jo.

#mentalheath #ItsOkNotToBe #Looseheadz