Oxford United holds suicide prevention training

Oxford United has delivered its first day of suicide prevention training for all of its players and staff.

The club partnered with Baton of Hope in February to become the first professional football club to sign up to the charity's workplace pledge.

It was taken on the third anniversary of the death of Oxford United legend Joey Beauchamp, who took his own life at home in Kidlington in 2022.

Mike McCarthy, Baton of Hope co-founder, said it was about "opening conversations and getting people to talk".

The club's partnership with the charity forms part of its Can We Talk? campaign to tackle the stigma around mental health and suicide.

It was launched on World Mental Health Day in October 2024 in partnership with the Joey Beauchamp Foundation.

United first team player and Baton of Hope ambassador Will Vaulk, who lost his two grandfathers to suicide, lead the campaign and said he wanted to "have an impact on making a change".

Can We Talk? founder Ryan Maher said the club had recognised "through its own past and its own history that there is a real deep connection to suicide with Oxford United and the county".

"Footballers are people that people look up to," he said.

"There's an audience here of people who are majority men and unfortunately with suicides, the majority of cases are men.

"We've already seen such an impact... we are making a difference, which is so amazing.

"But we're not going to stop there, we want to improve that."

Mr McCarthy, whose son took his own life in February 2021, said men in particular "find it very hard, if not impossible, to open up about the emotional challenges that we all go through".

"Unless we normalise conversations about it, nothing's going to change."

He said he had found out that employers were "afraid" to tackle the issue.

"That's where we come in - we guide and help employers to be able to keep their staff safe and well and to recognise that mental health is every bit as important as physical health," he said.

Personnel at team sponsor and heating company Baxi have also taken part in the training.

Paul Haynes from the company said he had lost a family member and a good friend to suicide.

He said: "It resonated with us... and we feel it's really important that through the power of sport you can help spread the word.

"But also within industry, we want to say that it is OK to talk."

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