# Comic Relief and Premier League launch £4.65 million mental health partnership

- Link: https://fundraising.co.uk/2025/12/17/comic-relief-and-premier-league-launch-mental-health-partnership/
- Published: 2025-12-17T21:27:00+00:00
- Author: Howard Lake

**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.

![](https://wfay6x.infiniteuploads.cloud/2026/09/PLCR2-1200x1800.jpg)

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](https://fundraising.co.uk/tag/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.”

> ![Young schoolchildren at Stamford Bridge, London.](https://wfay6x.infiniteuploads.
> cloud/2026/09/PLCR1-1200x800.jpg)
> Photo by John Phillips/Getty Images For Premier League
> Nick Perchard, [Premier League](https://www.premierleague.com/foundation) 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](https://fundraising.co.uk/tag/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.

## WATCH: Premier League x Comic Relief

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 * **[Revolut partners with Comic Relief on donations](https://fundraising.co.uk/2023/03/17/revolut-partners-with-comic-relief-on-donations/)(
   17 March 2023)
 * **[Record year sees Everton in the Community support more than 45,000 people](https://fundraising.co.uk/2021/02/26/record-year-sees-everton-in-the-community-support-more-than-45000-people/)(
   26 February 2021)**