“We all have a role to play in keeping people feeling connected” Dons in Discussion
Throughout the month of December alongside our partner charity Aberdeen FC Community Trust (AFCCT), our staff have made 3,000+ welfare calls to supporters with plans to increase that number further before Christmas.
To supplement the calls which are being made to check-in with supporters who may be at risk of social isolation or having a particularly tough time in the build up to the festive period, a series of events have been planned with former Dons players contributing to the discussion around mental health and the ups and downs throughout their career.
Supporters who were called in the first week received an exclusive invite to the first Dons in Discussion event which took place last week with former Don and current AFC Youth Academy Coach, Derek Young.
Derek was joined on the call by AFCCT’s David Smith and shared some insight from the MINDSET programme which is delivered in schools throughout the North-East in partnership with Grassroot Soccer. Fans on the call were encouraged to be a supporter of others, to take risks and talk about their own situation and to be a leader on mental heath by checking in on family and friends.
The Dons in Discussion events are the brainchild of AFCCT’s Robbie Hedderman. Robbie also works alongside Derek Young as a coach in the AFC Youth Academy and has been co-ordinating the efforts of AFCCT’s staff and volunteers as part of the Calling Home for Christmas campaign.
It was the experience of part of #StillStandingFree that sparked the idea of going a step further than the calls that were being made and providing supporters with something more.
Robbie explained, “What has become really clear from the feedback from the calls that have been made so far is that there is a need out there for people to talk to someone, more so than during the #StillStandingFree calls that were made earlier in the year.
“We are seeing the calls last a lot longer and on some of the calls we are finding that people haven’t spoken to anyone for a week, that’s particularly among our older supporters but not exclusively.
“We all have a role to play in keeping people feeling connected and also to talk about mental health, listening to others and knowing what action to take to be a good support. Last night’s event was well received and hopefully it got across some of those messages in an engaging way for supporters using Derek’s experiences during his career.”
A follow-up event will take place on Tuesday 22nd December from 7.30pm with an open invite to all Dons supporters this time round.
Next up joining David & Andrew will be former Don, Stuart Duff. To register for the event click here
Earlier this year it was estimated that as many as one in four people will see their mental health impacted adversely as a result of being in lock-down. Don’t forget that a free mental health app is available through our Health & Wellbeing partner Health Shield.
Supporters can download Health Shield’s Thrive app by clicking here and following the simple steps*.
Supporters can download Health Shield’s Thrive app by clicking here and following the simple steps*.
