Why did you choose to commission the Shout service from Mental Health Innovations?
We were drawn to partnering with the Shout service from Mental Health Innovations because we wanted something that was appropriate for anyone, any age, whatever their level of need. This aligned perfectly with our vision of being a safe sport for all and supporting all our members – irrespective of age, role or level of participation.
The 24-hour text service takes the pressure off phone or face-to-face conversations and is potentially far more accessible and a less daunting way of reaching out to find a place of calm. Just having the option to engage with someone no matter the level or type of concern can have such a positive impact on an individual.
The bespoke keyword provides us with anonymised data of the main types of support required by our members. It’s a great way of informing our training and helps us tailor the education and communication we deliver to our Club Welfare Officers (CWO). The CWO is an important role in our affiliated clubs – it is the person who will share concerns with the Safeguarding Team at Badminton England so that we can give appropriate support to our members when needed but also that ‘people person’ who will drive the culture and encourage everyone in their club to look out for and look after each other.
What was your objective when you commissioned this service?
Providing mental health support to all our members – we launched the partnership during Mental Health Awareness Week in May 2023 for this reason.
Safeguarding children and young people is accepted but looking after the welfare and wellbeing of adults is still catching up. We can all move in and out of places of vulnerability at any time and need some support. Offering a service that could be used by adults as well as young people was really important to us.
When and how did you launch your keyword? Can you talk to us about any successful initiatives or campaigns?
We launched in May 2023 and we have seen the use of the service grow over time.
We have used our social media channels to remind our members of the keyword partnership in addition to posters and fliers at key events to spread awareness.
We have created social media assets for our clubs to use and promote on their own websites and within their own communities.
We have also included information about the service and our partnership in our training for Club Welfare Officers that forms part of our “A Sport that Cares” campaign – since sharing the information with our growing network of CWOS we have seen a significant increase in the use of the service.
What impact have you seen to date? How have you used the insights and analysis from your keyword reports to change or enhance the mental health support you provide?
The impact has definitely been seen in the increase of our membership using the service. Now we have entered year three, with more data being returned we will be able to use this to inform our communications and training.
This year we are looking to launch a calendar of additional training and continuous professional development opportunities for our members. We will be able to use the data from MHI – showing the main types of support provided to our members – to help us decide on the most appropriate webinars and workshops to deliver.
