Tottenham Hotspur in Powerful Partnership to Help Battle Suicide

Mental health campaigner Ben West sits down with JOE to discuss his Reasons to Stay project, and collaborating with Tottenham Hotspur as part of the Premier League's Together Against Suicide initiative - supporting fans affected by suicide or suicidal thoughts and raising awareness of the help available.

The message is simple; write a letter that could save a life.

Reasons to Stay is a website from the Premier League where those seeking help can post or receive messages of support, often from a stranger or good samaritan, that can provide connections or hope in their struggles with mental health.

To date, over 3 million letters have been delivered by Ben, who passionately believes that Reasons to Stay has "helped save lives."

Watch an interview with Ben West here:

And now, Reasons to Stay is aiming to tap into the same rich football community that gave Ben the support he needed to cope with the immense pain of his brother's passing.

As part of Mental Health Awareness week, Reasons to Stay is partnering with Tottenham Hotspurs for the Premier League's ‘Together Against Suicide’ campaign to raise awareness of the website not just among Spurs fans, but all across the League.

And the numbers show it's a partnership that makes perfect sense.

"Someone loses their life from suicide every 90 minutes, the same as a football game,” Ben revealed. “And 84% of football fans believe that we should be talking about suicide more and mental health.”

The website works as writing letters has proved to be a powerful tool in helping combat mental healt

As Ben explains: “What makes a difference to someone that is thinking about suicide is not someone telling them what to do, or telling them to go to a GP.

The big thing that makes a difference is just feeling connected to another person. Reasons to Stay gives so much opportunity for people to have those difficult conversations.”  

If you are feeling vulnerable or want to get involved with this amazing campaign between Reasons to Stay and Tottenham, go to https://reasonstostay.org/.

It might just change your life, or help save someone else's.  

Check out more from the Premier League's Together Against Suicide campaign here.