Young people promote positive mental wellbeing through the Premier League Inspires Challenge

Young people representing Club Doncaster Foundation and Doncaster Rovers joined hundreds of students from across England and Wales for this year’s Premier League Inspires Challenge national celebration event at Everton’s Hill Dickinson Stadium on 29^th April.

The Challenge is one element of the wider Premier League Inspires programme which supports 11–to-18-year-olds to reach their potential as they move through the education system and into early adulthood. The Premier League, through its Foundation, currently funds 54 football club charities to run Premier League Inspires sessions in secondary schools on a weekly basis. Activities delivered through the programme include group interventions to develop key life skills, social action projects and one-to-one mentoring.

For this season’s Premier League Inspires Challenge, young people were tasked with creating a social action project to come up with ways in which they could support young people’s mental wellbeing in their communities. Students from 12 secondary schools across Doncaster came together to share ideas on this theme through a series of events hosted at the Eco-Power Stadium and in schools where they presented their different social action project ideas in front of students from other local schools.

After a close competition, the team of Ava, Elliott, Mason and Poppy from The Laurel Academy was voted as having the most impactful idea for a social action project. Their project helped secondary school students to share their stresses and worries with other young people anonymously so that other young people could provide useful pieces of advice and positive tips to help the original posters to manage issues linked to wellbeing.

Ed O’Mahony, Club Doncaster Foundation’s Premier League Inspires Lead, noted that, “More young people from Doncaster have taken part in this year’s Premier League Inspires Challenge than ever before, with 150 students from 12 schools working on social action project ideas and 129 students presenting their ideas in front of others.

"In collaboration with local schools, we use the Challenge as a tool to help students build confidence and self-esteem as well as developing important skills for life in and out of school such as communication, resilience and teamwork.”

The focus on mental wellbeing aligns closely with the Premier League’s Inside Matters initiative, which highlights the Premier League’s and Premier League clubs’ ongoing commitment to raising awareness of the topic and encouraging fans to check in on the wellbeing of others.

As part of the Challenge, the Premier League Inspires participants explored the positive work Doncaster Rovers is already doing to support mental wellbeing in the local area through other established Foundation projects including Fit Rovers and Premier League Primary Stars.

Having won their local heat in February, Ava, Elliott, Mason and Poppy joined hundreds of young people at the Premier League Inspires Challenge national celebration event at Everton's Hill Dickinson stadium at the end of April to showcase their project idea and celebrate the hard work put in by all four students to bring their project idea to life.

Premier League Foundation Chief Executive, Alex White, said “The Premier League Inspires Challenge gives young people a powerful platform to discuss and take steps to improve young people’s mental wellbeing within their communities. This year’s theme encourages participants to champion positive mental wellbeing, break down stigma and create supportive environments where everyone feels able to thrive.

“By taking part in Premier League Inspires, young people can strengthen their confidence and build valuable skills - from communication and planning to teamwork and resilience - as they design meaningful social action projects that promote healthier, happier communities.”

Alongside participant-focused activities, mental health specialists and representatives from across the sport and charity sectors came together for a round table discussion as part of the event at the Hill Dickinson Stadium. The discussion focused on the role of football club charities in supporting young people’s mental health and wellbeing and was delivered by the Premier League and Premier League Foundation in partnership with Comic Relief.

The three-year partnership with Comic Relief is using the power of football to put children and young people aged 5-to-18 at the heart of a nationwide push for better mental health by giving them access to practical wellbeing tools, education resources and essential life skills, while tackling stigma head-on.

Club Doncaster Foundation began its Premier League Inspires delivery in 2022 and since then has supported more than 1,000 young people through 1,800 sessions in 17 local schools.

Nationally, more than 40,000 young people from across England and Wales have received more than 135,000 hours of targeted support through Premier League Inspires to date.

To find out more about Premier League Inspires, please visit: www.premierleague.com.