Keep The Ball Rolling: Melton Mowbray bus operator launches miles of awareness for men’s mental health

Stagecoach East Midlands is inviting customers and communities across the region to help ‘Keep The Ball Rolling’ this November, as part of its partnership with Andy's Man Club and a campaign designed to raise miles of awareness for men's mental health.

The campaign launches this week to coincide with Men's Mental Health Awareness Month, with Sean Gill from Andy's Man Club handing over a specially branded awareness football to Leigh Barker, a local bus driver and passionate advocate for the charity. The ball is beginning a unique journey across the Stagecoach East Midlands bus network.

Inspired by the way a football is passed around during Andy's Man Club sessions to give every person the opportunity to speak, the awareness ball will travel from depot to depot, team to team, and role to role, helping to spark conversations about men's mental health along the way.

Drivers, engineers, office teams and frontline employees will take the ball on different parts of its journey, sharing stories, photos and conversations as they help spread the charity's message: #ITSOKAYTOTALK.

Customers are also being encouraged to keep an eye out for the awareness ball as it travels across the East Midlands network.

Whether it's spotted on a bus, at a depot or out in the community, every sighting represents another mile travelled and another opportunity to start a conversation about mental health.

The campaign is the latest chapter in Stagecoach East Midlands' growing partnership with Andy's Man Club, which began with a series of awareness initiatives across the region including specially branded buses carrying mental-health messages, community engagement events and awareness campaigns designed to encourage people to seek support when they need it.

The partnership has also received national recognition, with Stagecoach East Midlands recently being shortlisted in the Bus in the Community category at the UK Bus Awards, recognising the impact the partnership with Andys Man Club has had in supporting communities and raising awareness of men's mental health.

Matt Cranwell, Stagecoach East Midlands Managing Director said: "At Stagecoach East Midlands, we're committed to supporting the wellbeing of our people and the communities we serve. Through our partnership with Andy's Man Club, we've seen first-hand the difference that open and honest conversations can make in helping to break down stigma around men's mental health.

"Keep The Ball Rolling is a simple but powerful campaign that takes an important message into our depots, onto our buses and into communities across the East Midlands. Every mile the ball travels represents another opportunity to raise awareness, encourage conversation and remind someone that support is available.

"We're proud that our work with Andy's Man Club has been recognised through our shortlisting in the UK Bus Awards Bus in the Community category. It reflects the strength of this partnership and our shared ambition to make a positive difference. We would encourage everyone to keep an eye out for the awareness ball as it travels across our network and help us spread the message that it's okay to talk."

Sean Gill, Andy’s Man Club Regional Lead - East of England, added: “What I love about this idea is that it takes something so simple and turns it into something that could have a massive impact.

“At Andy’s Man Club, we know that sometimes all it takes is one conversation to make a difference to someone’s life. The ball we pass around our groups gives every man the opportunity to speak, but just as importantly, it gives everyone the opportunity to listen.

“Taking that message out across the Stagecoach network is a brilliant way to remind people that mental health doesn’t stop when we go to work. Whether you’re behind the wheel, in the workshop, in the depot or in the office, we all have mental health, and we all have a part to play in looking out for one another.

“I’m incredibly proud to see Stagecoach helping to keep this conversation moving. If passing a ball from team to team gets people talking, checking in with each other and feeling more comfortable in opening up, then it’s doing exactly what we want it to do.

“Because you never know what someone is going through behind the scenes, and sometimes asking ‘Are you okay?’ and taking the time to listen can make all the difference.

“Let’s keep the ball rolling and keep spreading the message that #ITSOKAYTOTALK.”

-- Find out more about Andy’s Man Club at www.andysmanclub.co.uk.