Prince William joins forces with the FA to narrate video for major mental health campaign

Prince William has teamed up with a host of football stars and the Football Association to encourage fans to look after their mental health in a major new campaign.

The Duke of Cambridge, 37, has narrated a powerful film for his Heads Up campaign, in collaboration with Public Health England’s Every Mind Matters.

The video will be shown at the start of this weekend’s FA Cup matches in a bid to urge football fans to think about their mental health.

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Kick-off for 32 third round matches will be delayed for one minute so fans can “Take A Minute” to consider their wellbeing.

Appearing in the film are current and former players, pundits and managers, including ‘Strictly Come Dancing’s’ Alex Scott, Frank Lampard, Harry Maguire and Dele Alli.

The film is a collaboration between Public Health England's (PHE) Every Mind Matters and Heads Together - the mental health initiative spearheaded by The Royal Foundation of The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and The Duke and Duchess of Sussex.

In the video, the Duke, who is president of the Football Association, says: “In life, as in football, we all go through highs and lows. We can all sometimes feel anxious or stressed. At moments even the little things can seem a struggle. But we can all start to change things.

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“Every Mind Matters and Heads Up will show you the simple steps you can take to look after your mental health - helping to boost your mood, improve your sleep and feel ready for life's ups and downs.”

The idea behind the campaign is to inform about some of the simple self-care techniques that anyone can undertake to improve their mental health.

Tips include ideas for mood-boosting physical activities and techniques to improve sleep quality.

The campaign launch comes as research, commissioned by PHE of more than 3,300 adults in England, found men are less likely than women to seek help or take self-care actions for early signs of common mental health concerns.

Of the 78% of men who have experienced early signs of mental health concerns in the last year, just under half (45%) said they had never taken self-care actions to manage their mental health, compared to 31% of women.

And of those men that did take steps to manage or improve their mental health, over three quarters (73%) wished they’d taken action sooner.

Duncan Selbie, chief executive of PHE, said: “As every fan knows, football has its highs and lows – and so does life.

“This is a fantastic opportunity to bring the football community together in an important conversation about how we can all take care of our mental health, starting with a few simple actions.”

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The initiative has been created to encourage those struggling with their mental health to come up with their own personalised “Mind Plan” through the Every Mind Matters website.

Back in October, as part of the Heads Up campaign, Prince William joined fans and Chelsea manager Frank Lampard at the Prince Albert pub in Battersea, London to watch the England vs Czech Republic and discuss mental health.