Walcott supports Premier League’s new mental health resource

As Children’s Mental Health Week gets under way, the Premier League has launched a new mental health education resource focused on how young people can build their self-esteem.

The free resource – available to over 19,000 primary schools across England and Wales – contains guidance for young people on what self-esteem is, as well as tips on how they can build confidence and increase their resilience through key tools such as such as ‘accepting mistakes, trying new things and positive self-talk.’

The resource is available through the League’s primary school education programme, Premier League Primary Stars. Alongside input from teachers and mental health experts, it features advice from 10 current Premier League players as well as former England internationals Theo Walcott and Jill Scott MBE.

To help launch the resource, Walcott attended a Premier League Primary Stars session run by his former club Arsenal. There, he surprised schoolchildren, sharing his experiences with them and supporting them during their lesson.

Walcott, said,  “I was delighted to support the launch of this new Premier League Primary Stars education resource and share some of my own story. Football is a brilliant way of connecting with people, so I know the children the League and clubs reach with their range of community programmes will take these lessons forward.

“Having spent most of my career in the Premier League, seeing the connection between the on-pitch competition and the support it enables for people throughout the country is inspiring.”

Premier League Primary Stars, which uses ‘the appeal of football to help young people be active and develop essential life skills’, offers almost 30 free resource packs for schools centred around wellbeing topics.