The Nash ditch blue for a special cause

Curzon Ashton host Brackley Town on Saturday and they won’t be sporting their usual blue home strip.

The Nash will be wearing a bright orange kit with the only logo being the World Suicide Prevention Day’s main ‘ribbon’. The kits will be auctioned off after the game to raise money for the World Suicide Prevention Charity and its foundation. 

The club places the issue very close to its heart after Sharon Holt, sister Curzon Ashton manager Mark Bradshaw, sadly lost her son, Robert, 4 years ago, at the age of 35.

In 2017, nearly 6000 suicides occurred in the UK – that’s one death by suicide every 2 hours. Sadly, we have seen a significant increase from this number since then. Suicide is the leading cause of death amongst young people aged 20-34 and it is considerably higher in men, with around three times as many deaths from suicide compared to women. Suicide is the leading cause of death in the UK for males under the age of 50. Those at higher risk are between the ages of 40 and 44 with a rate of 24.1 deaths per 100,000 in that age bracket.

The club have said:

“When we host Brackley Saturday and will run out in a different coloured strip. The strip will be in the colour of World Suicide Prevention Day’s main ‘ribbon’ logo. This idea stemmed from the fantastic campaign Altrincham had last year to highlight LGBTQ equality and the national recognition they achieved. We hope that by wearing a different strip and sending these messages out that we will encourage other (larger) clubs to take a stance on this issue.  
 
“There is also the possibility that someone at the game may be feeling depressed or suicidal and there will be information within the matchday programme that will assist with this.  Our partners, Infinity Initiatives are on board to assist in any way with free counselling and advice.  Samaritans have already sent the club lots of resources to hand out at the match and to have within the matchday programme. 

“The Foundation has purchased these strips for the first team. A mention of thanks to our shirt sponsors who have kindly agreed to be omitted from the shirt for this occasion. 
 
 “We will auction the match-worn shirts after the match against Brackley and all money raised in this auction will be split between World Suicide Prevention and our very own foundation so please keep an eye out for this.”

This Saturday we continue to spread awareness for Suicide Prevention, this is the shirt we will be wearing! 👕

It’s okay not to be okay! 💙

We would like to thank @BromleysLLP, @seedofspeed & @MinutemanAshton for removing their sponsors for this great cause! #WSPD19 pic.twitter.com/aJXp4LFzZF

— Curzon Ashton (@CurzonAshton) September 13, 2019

There will also be a special match programme in support of the issue.

If you are struggling or know anyone that is then you can call Samaritans 24 hours a day by phoning 116 123 free or visiting www.samaritans.org.uk. 

You can call 101 to speak to the free NHS helpline, which is also open 24 hours a day, seven days a week. 

You can make an urgent appointment to see your GP - they may have an out-of-hours contact number. 

The Campaign Against Living Miserably (CALM) - an award-winning charity dedicated to preventing male suicide - can also be contacted from 5 pm to midnight 365 days a year on 0800 585 858. 

MIND provides information on different types of mental health problems and where to get help. It's free to call on 0300 123 3393. 

Alternatively, the PAPYRUS HOPELINE UK provides a confidential suicide prevention helpline service for young people, under the age of 35, thinking about suicide or anyone worried about a young person. 

It's open from 10am to 10pm weekdays and 2pm to 10pm at weekends, and 2pm to 5pm on Bank Holiday Mondays. You can call them on 0800 068 4141 or text 07786 209697 or email pat@papyrus-uk.org. They also have a website - www.papyrus-uk.org.
 

Photos From Curzon Ashton