Part of 2. Questions to the Minister for Mental Health, Wellbeing and Welsh Language – in the Senedd at 3:13 pm on 24 March 2021.
Diolch yn fawr, John. Certainly, I know your commitment to Newport and to this important issue is something that is worth underlining. I felt very privileged to be able to speak to some people in the community of Newport last week to discuss this very issue of mental health, so thank you for organising that.
Certainly, this is one of the things that I was focused on before I became Minister for mental health, starting a campaign called 'I pledge to talk', working with Mind Cymru, in mid Wales, when they found that there were three cases within a very short space of time, in a small community, where men had committed suicide. The ripples of that through the community were immense. It's absolutely clear that we've got to get men to talk, and we have got to learn to listen as well. Certainly, there are some great examples of this happening. So, we've got Men's Sheds, which I think is a great initiative, but I think football clubs have a really specific role here, because they are able—. There's the kind of Heineken effect; they can reach parts that others can't reach, and in particular, perhaps, to reach out into the younger age groups that perhaps may not want to confront mental health issues. I really commend them for, really, the active role that they've taken in really taking on this issue, and certainly I'm very pleased to see that they're doing this. We'll have to see what happens after the next election to see if I'm still in this role, but certainly, if I were, I'd be happy to attend.
But certainly, in terms of what happens next, look, I am really focused on the fact that children's activities are allowed to start again on 27 March. I think sport, being outside, is so good for people's mental health, and, as someone who has undertaken to do 10 km a day during Lent, it's partly to make sure that, actually, you get into a routine, it's to make sure that we get up and get moving, and I think there are a lot of people who could benefit from that kind of discipline and getting into a routine, and I think football clubs would be great at that.