Warriors partner with Epic Hope

Wigan Warriors are proud to announce a partnership with new Wigan-based Charity, Epic Hope.

Epic Hope is a suicide prevention and intervention Charity and will work with Wigan Warriors to serve the whole of the Wigan Borough by helping to reduce suicide and those experiencing mental health difficulties.

The Charity will deliver training to all Wigan Warriors staff and teams to enable them to learn how to identify if someone is having suicidal thoughts, learn the best way to offer support (including life-promotion and self-care options) and link people with the correct resources,

They will also support our new men’s mental health programme, Engage, which starts on Friday 21st April. Engage sessions are free to attend and take place every Friday at Robin Park Arena.

Epic Hope will host their ‘Hope Harbours’ at Robin Park Arena, a place where you can go to speak to someone face-to-face, to be out of your own home and to unburden someone trained to listen.

Here you can access one-to-one or group support in a non-judgmental safe space with compassion and care, the empathetic, trained volunteers provide emotional support to anyone in a time of crisis, experiencing distress, despair and suicidal thoughts.

The Harbours at Wigan Warriors:

• Mondays 5pm – 8pm (starting 17th April and every Monday then on).
• Thursdays 5pm – 8pm (starting 20th April and every Thursday then on).

Epic Hope founder, Ellie Palma-Cass, said: “I firmly believe that isolation is a health hazard and Community is imperative to positive mental health outcomes. More people are turning to us, it’s not that mental health services aren’t there, they are just overwhelmed.

“We’re creating these places so people have got somewhere to go. We want to reduce and stop suicide in Wigan and beyond. Community seems to come together when there has been a tragedy and we need to come together now before there’s
another tragedy.”

She added: “What we’re trying to do is make sure people know they aren’t isolated, and that people care. This is why we are partnering with Wigan Warriors – the team at the very heart of Wigan, to provide this solace for people in need. Together we want to tackle the issue by providing suicide awareness training for staff, players, their families as well as the general public. We have come together to stop suicide in Wigan”

Wigan Warriors Welfare manager, Tom Fitzpatrick added: “Epic Hope are a fantastic charity who are looking to raise the often taboo subject of suicide awareness; the more we can talk and break down barriers around this subject the more lives can be saved.

“We are looking forward to training our staff and players to be able to have sometimes uncomfortable conversations,
comfortably. By doing this we can create safe spaces for people to share and for others to be effective listeners. This can be mirrored throughout the town which will help to break down the stigma attached to the subject and save lives.”

To find out more about Epic Hope and the work that they do, click HERE.