Pull up your socks for mental health

SPORTS clubs across the region are being encouraged to pull up their socks as part of Read The Play’s Sock It To Mental Illness campaign for 2021.

According to Read The Play, one in four young people between the ages of 15 to 24 will experience a mental health problem in any 12-month period highlighting the need to continue raising awareness for mental health amongst youths.

Read The Play’s Sock It To Mental Illness campaign hopes to continue raising awareness of youth mental health and guiding youths to understand how to access relevant support services.

Read The Play will be selling a limited number of unisex socks with all proceeds raised going directly to the Read The Play program. The initiative sold an estimated 1,000 pairs of socks in 2019.

“This year we have reinvigorated this initiative in partnership with Steigen, a good local company,” Read The Play general manager Michael Parker said.

“We’ve transitioned from the business socks that we used back in 2019 to sports socks for 2021.

“This hopes to target younger players and other local athletes that can wear the new socks with anti-blister technology and support mental health while doing their workouts.”

Mr Parker said the socks can be purchased and worn by anyone, including local sporting club athletes, weekend joggers or even casual walkers. The most important point was getting the message out there as efficiently as possible, he said.

Local clubs have also jumped on board for this year’s Sock It To Mental Illness campaign.

The Modewarre Football and Netball Club based in Moriac recently purchased 40 pairs of Read The Play’s socks.

“This really is a great cause and we’re going to give these socks out as awards during next season’s Mental Health Round,” netball club president Emily Hickey said.

“We at Modewarre have quite a unique opportunity in the sense that we a really small sporting community and we hope we can help create that safe space where people can come forward if they need help.

“It’s a great initiative and it’s a very practical thing to do too.”

Read The Play stated there had been some really strong support from clubs far and wide already for this year’s campaign including from its own ambassadors and the Geelong Cats.

The mission now for Mr Parker is to entice people around the region to use the socks as a good stocking stuffer for Christmas.

Head to sockittomentalillness.com.au to purchase a pair.