| Sporting Chance for Depressives |
 From a simple idea to the Theatre of Dreams - the history of the project...At a time when 1,300 young men are said to commit suicide every year in the UK because of depression, it took the brainwave of an Alderley Edge businessman and England's smallest football league club to start to turn the tide. Now that "simple idea", which has already transformed the lives of 100 young but severely-depressed men from Cheshire, is set to become global after Sir Bobby Charlton took the programme to Old Trafford. Football, and everything around it, has the ability to save lives - literally it seems. It's A Goal started as an idea by Cheshire-based social entrepreneur Malclom McClean, who was stunned by the number of young men who took their own lives because of depression. He realised very quickly that the health system wasn't really equipped to deal with the situation. "Young men don't like going to see the doctor. So, the fact that many of these sufferers with depression had no choice but to go to their GP obviously meant that a lot of them would slip through the net," he says. Malcolm stumbled across a new way of helping these troubled young men by realising very quickly that the one thing that united all of them was football. So, in January 2004, he approached his nearest team, Macclesfield Town FC, the football league's smallest club, and asked for their help. They readily agreed. He says: "Instead of forcing men to go to their GPs, we thought we should get them to go to a football stadium. It was far less intimidating for pretty much all of those who took part than a doctor's surgery. "Then we set about using soccer metaphors to get these guys to open up and talk about their situation. We set goals for them and gave them techniques for dealing with and achieving those goals. We reached the parts the NHS couldn't reach." And the results were remarkable. Of the 100 men referred to It's A Goal, 75 per cent completed the programme. Some 80 per cent of those said they achieved all their goals and 100 per cent of the people on the programme said they would recommend it to others. The most telling statistic, though, is that about half of those who signed up to the programme have made a positive change to their lives subsequently. They got a job, went back to work, went into education or moved on to independent living, a remarkable result in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds against them. Now transfer that success to the national stage where two million people take anti-depressant drugs and where one in three of the UK population will at some time suffer from depression. It's A Goal combats this with a non-clinical programme based on football and operated from a football stadium with the aim of appealing to the hard-to-reach depression sufferers who tend to withdraw from society. Now it's just established its second franchise at the world's biggest football club, Manchester United. Soccer legend Sir Bobby Charlton told scheme deviser Malcolm two years ago that if he got the idea to work at Macclesfield Town, he would launch it at the Theatre Of Dreams. He's been as a good as his word. And from the smallest acorn It's A Goal could now very easily go global. Sir Bobby says: "Young men who are fearful of going into a mental health unit are much more likely to walk into a football stadium. Once they are here, we can offer them the kind of therapeutic help they just cannot get anywhere else. "I really believe this can be a life-saver. We all know sport has the power to change lives and, maybe in this case, it can save lives." The scheme is being run under the auspices of international sporting foundation Laureus, the organisation famous for its help in curing social ills throughout the world's most deprived areas through sport. And, if ever there was a doubt that this world first would work then a word from the young men who have been on the scheme is enough to send any doubting Thomas running for cover. Kevin (other details have been removed to protect his identity) admits he may very well not be here were it not for It's A Goal. He says: "There is a stigma attached to mental health issues which means we are very poor at talking about it and dealing with it. We stop functioning. "I have had a severe lack of confidence. But this has provided me with a springboard to my future. It has had a hugely positive impact on my life." Or Anders, who has suffered depression for 15 years and had just become a new dad to twins when he discovered It's A Goal. "It completely changed my life. Depression controlled my whole life before and now I completely control my life." It's A Goal is a 12-week programme which will now take place at Old Trafford. Men aged 16-34 will take part in a series of discussions and activities with project leaders using football videos to examine behaviour patterns. "There is a football stadium in every town and city in the world. Now Manchester United is on board the opportunities are enormous," says Malcolm. (Reproduced with the kind permission of the Manchester Evening News) |
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