Heskey Chats Mental Health With Primary School Pupils

- Club legend Emile Heskey chats mental health with primary school pupils
- Former England forward spoke about the importance of talking about your feelings and emotions
- Please click HERE for more information about Mental Health Awareness Week

The former England international and current LCFC Club Ambassador spoke about the importance of talking about your feelings, while chatting about his own personal experiences.

He also revealed the coping mechanisms he uses for his own wellbeing and how being surrounded by nature has helped him. Mental Health Awareness Week – which runs from 10-16 May – is a campaign that aims to drive conversations and end the stigma around mental health.

Emile said: “We should all know the importance of speaking up and talking to family members, friends and so on because bottling things up doesn’t help. 

“There’s been times during my career where I’ve been up and there’s been times when I’ve been down, but I’ve always had a good group of people around me who I can count on and sit down with and just talk to. 

“If certain things aren’t going right in your life, it’s important to talk about them with someone because it helps so much. 

“Talk to your family and friends because they’re the ones who are going to help you on your journey to be the best you can possibly be.”

Heskey says he finds walking and being outdoors beneficial to his mental health, something he encouraged the pupils to do as much as possible.

“I love going for walks because fresh air helps me a lot," he said. "Being out in the countryside and enjoying the outdoors is great for me. Being outside is proven to help people’s mental health, and I’m no different. It improves wellbeing and just generally puts you in a better place. 

“Another thing I used when I was playing was comedy. Laughter was one really big thing for me, so I watched a lot of comedy, especially when I was away at tournaments. 

“When you’re away at tournaments you’re in this environment where it can be quite claustrophobic. You’re there for six weeks at a time so I found laughter was huge for me.”

Pupils at Beaumont Lodge Primary School are part of Leicester City in the Community’s Forest Foxes programme, an outdoor learning scheme that engages students through workshops and physical activities to build their confidence, self-esteem, and mental health.

Jacob, Year 6 pupil at the school, said: “Forest Foxes has helped me to learn that school isn’t a boring place and that you can actually learn in a fun way. 

“The sessions help me to relax because you have this big space outdoors and plenty of fresh air to run around and have fun in.”

Please click HERE for more information about Mental Health Awareness Week.