England Athletics and partners call for political party leaders to facilitate more access to sport and physical activity to help alleviate the mental health epidemic in the UK. England Athletics has today hosted the second in a series of All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for Running events, with a further call from Kim Leadbetter MP – chair of the APPG – for MPs to recognise the need for more support for physical and mental health amongst children.

Mental health has been at the forefront of not just our minds at England Athletics this week but the world, with World Mental Health Awareness Day celebrated this Tuesday. We caught up with some key players in the sporting community to find out how they have been affected by mental health challenges, and why running can have such a positive impact.

This World Mental Health Day, our sport is calling on the leaders of our political parties to unlock the potential of sport and physical activity to play a more meaningful role in tackling the UK’s growing mental health epidemic. Launched today at an All Parliamentary Committee session in Liverpool, led by Kim Ledbetter for Sport, the central message in the Open Letter to MP’s says we’re failing too many of our children, who leave school unfit, inactive and dealing with poor mental health on an unprecedented scale:

commitment to celebrate the many benefits of running as an ever more accessible and inclusive sport. Tuesday’s event, supported by a coalition of Running Champions across Government, was also an opportunity for those gathered to hear the inspirational story of Sam Barlow, founder of Fitmums and Friends, the hugely successful social running phenomenon that saw Sam win the BBC Sports Personality of the Year Unsung Hero Award in 2021.