Family-fun day held at rugby club in Dudley to raise awareness of mental health support on offer

A family-fun day has been held at a rugby club in the Black Country to help raise awareness of the mental health support on offer.

From the Royal Engineers, based in Oldbury, is medic: Hayley Simpson, with Ruben George, nine, getting a soak whilst Rosalie George, aged seven, gives a hand.

The event – called Tough Enough to Play – saw three charity rugby union matches held at Dudley Kingswinford Rugby Club.

It was organised by Tough Enough to Care, a male mental health charity working to tackle the stigma of the "man up" culture.

And people flocked to the rugby club on Saturday for the event after it was postponed from May last year due to the pandemic.

Founder Stuart Bratt, form Milking Bank in Dudley, said: "It was really really good. We held at at the Dudley Kingswinford Rugby Club and it was to raise awareness for mental health in general – and show what support is on offer to people.

"We invited local and national organisations to come down for free – we didn't make a single penny from them – and they could fundraise just for them. It was to show people what they do, because people may not want to approach us – maybe they know me or a member of the team – and it's to show there is support out there."

Mr Bratt said he chose the rugby club due to playing rugby there when he was younger and the event saw three charity rugby matches, street food, a funfair along with other family-fun activities held.

And one of the three rugby matches – the women's match – was played in honour of Liv Perks, a young rugby player who committed suicide in 2019.

Mr Bratt, aged 36, added: "She was a friend of mine and it was hard – I promised myself I wouldn't get emotional but I did a few times throughout the day.

"But it was good because that emotion shows the passion is still there. It was just nice to be able to use the event to put a stamp on the local community and say mental health needs to be talked about – and we're here to talk about it.

"All of the feedback and everything has been positive and people were really enjoying themselves and lots of comments like 'this is what a family-fun day should feel like'."

The event was also attended by Education Secretary Gavin Williamson along with Councillor Shaz Saleem, who represents Kingswinford North and Wall Heath on Dudley Council.