Everton in the Community will put its life-changing, and lifesaving, work in the spotlight at Hill Dickinson Stadium this weekend, just days after The Prince and Princess of Wales joined the charity for a landmark event focused on suicide prevention.
Everton in the Community’s annual Community Day will take place at Saturday’s Premier League fixture against Ipswich Town and celebrate the breadth and impact of the Club’s official charity while raising vital awareness and funds to support its work across the Liverpool City Region.
The event follows a visit from Their Royal Highnesses to the stadium on Thursday 10 September, when Everton hosted some of the biggest organisations and names in British sport. The visit marked the launch of On Your Side, a new suicide prevention initiative from The Prince of Wales and The Royal Foundation.
On Your Side is a first-of-its-kind toolkit designed to give people across sport the knowledge, confidence and practical tools to spot warning signs, start conversations and connect individuals with support before a crisis occurs.
The visit began with a poignant conversation at the Gary Speed memorial bench, where Their Royal Highnesses met Carol Speed, mother of the former Everton Football Club player and Wales manager, alongside Everton in the Community participant Sam and EitC Community Wellbeing Practitioner John Bilsborrow.
Together, they spoke openly about mental health, suicide prevention and their own experiences, reflecting on the importance of creating environments where people feel able to talk and know where to turn for support.
For lifelong Evertonian Sam, 22, the conversation marked another significant moment in a journey which began when he reached out to Everton in the Community while struggling with his mental health.
After moving to Liverpool from the Isle of Man, Sam had struggled to access the support he needed and contacted the charity for help. He received a response that same day and subsequently joined EitC’s Imagine Your Goals programme, where a combination of mental health support, physical activity and football helped him find structure, friendship and a renewed sense of purpose.
Sam now volunteers for Everton in the Community and uses his lived experience to encourage others to speak openly about their mental health and seek support.
Reflecting on his conversation with The Prince and Princess of Wales, Sam said:
“It was a really special moment to sit down with Their Royal Highnesses and speak so openly about mental health and some of the experiences that have brought me to where I am today.
“When I first reached out to Everton in the Community, I was struggling and didn’t really know where to turn. The support I received and the people I met through Imagine Your Goals made such a difference to my life, so to now be in a position where I can share my experience and hopefully help somebody else feels incredibly important.
“Talking about your mental health isn’t always easy, but having someone there who will listen can make a massive difference. If today, and the launch of On Your Side, helps more people feel able to have those conversations and ask for support when they need it, that can only be a positive thing.”
Following the conversation, The Prince and Princess were officially welcomed to the stadium by Everton Chief Executive Officer Angus Kinnear and Everton in the Community Chief Executive Officer Sue Gregory, before joining representatives from across sport and mental health for the launch of On Your Side.
Developed by The Royal Foundation in partnership with the UK’s national standards body, British Standards Institution (BSI), and mental health charity Chasing the Stigma, the new resource provides practical, evidence-based guidance to help those working across sport recognise warning signs, have potentially life-saving conversations and connect people with appropriate support.
Major organisations including The Football Association, Premier League, Team GB and British Cycling have pledged to implement the resource, while more than a dozen other sporting organisations have committed to championing the toolkit and strengthening suicide prevention across their work.
Hazel Detsiny, Executive Director at The Royal Foundation, said:
: “Sport has a unique ability to build trust, connect people and start conversations that can make a real difference. Through “On Your Side”, we hope to give people across sport the confidence to recognise when someone may be struggling and connect them with support.
“We are incredibly grateful to Everton Football Club and Everton in the Community for hosting the launch and for their longstanding commitment to mental health and suicide prevention.”
The day also brought together some of the most recognisable names in British sport, including Dame Kelly Holmes MBE (mil) OLY, Gabby Logan OBE, Campbell Hatton, Jill Scott MBE and Dame Laura Kenny.
Everton was represented by former players Graeme Sharp, Ian Snodin, Graham Stuart and Leon Osman, while Everton in the Community played a central role in the day, with Sue Gregory leading a breakout session which enabled representatives to share experiences, insights and best practice from across their respective organisations.
Gregory said:
“It was a privilege to welcome Their Royal Highnesses The Prince and Princess of Wales to Hill Dickinson Stadium on such an important day and to work alongside The Royal Foundation in supporting the launch of On Your Side.
“For almost 20 years, mental health has been a fundamental part of our work at Everton in the Community and we know first-hand the unique ability sport has to reach people, build trust and create conversations. This was a valuable opportunity not only to share some of what we have learned, but to listen to others and consider how we can collectively do more.
“We are committed to implementing the On Your Side toolkit and championing its key messages around suicide prevention, and I was incredibly proud to see Sam and John sharing their own experiences with The Prince and Princess and ensuring lived experience remained at the heart of those conversations.”
The launch builds on Everton in the Community’s long-standing commitment to mental health and suicide prevention, with the charity delivering dedicated provision across the Liverpool City Region since 2007.
That work led to the opening of The People’s Place in 2023, the Premier League’s first purpose-built mental health and wellbeing hub. Located in the heart of Liverpool 4, the facility provides a permanent home for the charity’s mental health programmes, alongside access to professional support, with a focus on prevention and early intervention.
Everton and Everton in the Community were also among the first Premier League clubs to pilot the Together Against Suicide initiative, extending that commitment into the matchday environment and using football’s reach to raise awareness, encourage conversations and signpost supporters to help.
The visit continues a longstanding connection between The Prince of Wales and Everton in the Community’s mental health work. His Royal Highness previously visited the charity in January 2020 to learn more about its mental health provision and plans for The People’s Place, which opened three years later. Reflecting on the launch, Everton Ambassador Stuart said:
“Nothing creates conversation quite like sport, but nothing is more important than talking about our wellbeing, especially if someone is in need of help and somewhere to turn.
“I’ve been privileged over the years to see the first-rate work that Everton in the Community and its staff do to provide mental health support in this city, and to show people that help is out there and that nobody is ever alone.
“That’s obviously one of the big messages of On Your Side and, as a football club, we’re proud to have provided the setting for The Royal Foundation to launch this fantastic initiative and to see the wonderful backing it has received from so many great names of sport.”
The On Your Side toolkit is hosted on Chasing the Stigma’s Hub of Hope, the UK’s largest mental health directory, and is available now by visiting https://hubofhope.co.uk/OnYourSide/