The Premier League and Comic Relief mental health and wellbeing initiative launch event at Stamford Bridge on December 03, 2025 in London, England.
Photo by John Phillips/Getty Images For Premier League
Comic Relief and the Premier League have launched a new £4.65 million, three-year partnership using football to help improve the mental health and wellbeing of children and young people across England and Wales.
Over the next three years, the partnership will put thousands of children and young people aged five to 18 at the heart of a nationwide push for better mental health, giving them access to practical wellbeing tools, education resources and essential life skills, while aiming to tackle stigma around mental health head-on.
The initiative will support children and young people to help develop and design mental health and wellbeing education resources, and to upskill teachers and coaching staff around delivering mental health and wellbeing sessions. Football club charities will work directly with children and young people to understand the tools, resources and workshops they need, with co-creation a key part of the partnership.
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More than 70 children and young people from Winston Churchill School took part in a launch event at Stamford Bridge, home of Chelsea FC, taking part in mental health and wellbeing-themed workshops.
Premier Stars highlighted at the Premier League and Comic Relief mental health and wellbeing initiative launch event at Stamford Bridge.
Photo by John Phillips/Getty Images for Premier League
A growing mental health crisis among young people
The partners point to research suggesting more than two-thirds of young people would prefer to access mental health support without going through their GP, with stigma stopping many more from speaking up in the first place.
Olly Dawson, Head of Sport for Change and Funding Operations at Comic Relief, said:
“Right now there is a growing mental health crisis among young people in this country. Tens of thousands are waiting over two years for support and stigma continues to prevent countless more from speaking up in the first place… we are proud to be channelling our shared expertise and passion for supporting more young people through sport, and we are excited about what we can achieve together over the next three years.”
Photo by John Phillips/Getty Images For Premier League
Nick Perchard, Premier League Director of Community, said:
“This new partnership builds on the work that the League and our clubs have been doing to support young people’s mental health and wellbeing.”
The partnership builds on Comic Relief and the Premier League’s existing long-term relationship, which started n 2002 with the launch of Sport Relief.
It follows the two organisations’ work together on health and fitness programmes for over-55s and enterprise education programmes in the UK and internationally.
About Howard Lake
Howard Lake is consultant editor of UK Fundraising. He founded the site in 1994 and successfully sold it in 2022. As director of Giving X Ltd he is exploring growing giving on a massive scale.
He is the founder of Fundraising Camp and co-founder of GoodJobs.
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