Free tennis for 18-25 year olds with a diagnosed mental illness in Shrewsbury
The weekly sessions start today
New, weekly tennis sessions are being offered for anyone between 18-25 years old with a diagnosed mental health illness at Shrewsbury Tennis Club.
The sessions take place every Wednesday 11am-12 noon at the Cathie Sabin Community Tennis Centre and are completely free.
This new venture comes from a partnership between Midlands Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust (MPFT) and Tennis Shropshire to encourage young people with a diagnosed severe mental health illness to meet likeminded people in an active way.
Claire Parrish, service manager for MPFT's Adult Community Mental Health Services said:
"We want to be able to empower our young population and sport for me is a great way to do that and support improvements in mental health.
"There is no stigma, everyone in that forum has a mental illness and sometimes that can be quite comforting and reassuring. There isn't that expectation that you need to discuss your mental health with anybody but if you want to there is someone that you can talk to.
"Its really important that we work with these youngsters at an earlier stage to prevent that history of reduced lifespan, unemployment and poor health."
The Trust want to remove any barriers of cost and make more expensive activities accessible to more people.
Equipment is provided at the sessions and a tennis coach will provide support and guidance. It's open to all abilities from novice to expert.
Registration is for patients who are 18+, considered to have an SMI (prescribed antipsychotic medication) and registered with a GP in Shropshire, Telford or Wrekin. Send an email to ActivitiesSMIPH@mpft.nhs.uk to register your interest.