Comic Relief: Ahead of the Game - Sport and Mental Health

Overview

By sports based approaches, they mean programmes which combine a sport for change approach with specific therapeutic elements, and that have access to mental health expertise.

Comic Relief aim to support projects that work with the most marginalised people, in the most disadvantaged communities.

In Ghana, Uganda and Rwanda, they understand that mental health problems may be more difficult to recognise and diagnose often as a result of stigma and discrimination as well as lower availability of and access to mental health services. They will therefore support the following in these countries:

• Organisations to deliver sports based approaches in communities where they can demonstrate people are at high risk of developing mental health problems.
• Organisations to deliver sports based approaches who are working with those already experiencing mental health problems.

In the UK they will focus on supporting organisations to use sports based approaches to support people who are already experiencing mental health problems, whether these are self-determined or diagnosed.

Project Design

Comic Relief have identified some key principles for the funding call which they encourage you to take into consideration, to ensure projects are well designed and have every opportunity to succeed. These principles are the result of desk based research and consultation with academics and practitioners working in the sector. These principles apply to both the UK and international territories.

1. Focus on improving mental wellbeing and helping people function better

Due to the range of cultural limitations around the issues of mental health, the relevance of sport across a range of mental health problems and the underlying stigma often associated with it, the fund will focus on promoting the use of sports based approaches that support wellbeing, improve functioning and reduce distress. Organisations should consider the following components:

• Social support: this is a person’s perception that they are cared for and that they know people who can help them. It’s an important component of wellbeing, and our research has suggested that programmes that increase participants’ perception of social support are likely to be more successful in improving wellbeing and mental health.
• Self-esteem: this is a person’s confidence in their own worth or abilities. Another important component of wellbeing, our research suggested that physical activity can boost self-esteem by giving participants the sense that they had achieved something through participation. Improving skills can give participants a sense of mastery, and improved perceptions of their competence, physical skills and body image.
• Addressing stigma: There is recognition that sport is likely to be a highly acceptable, non-stigmatising, route to improved mental health. We therefore encourage you to consider the role of sport in improving wellbeing where stigma is present. This is because while in some contexts a medical diagnostic label can be valuable to someone, for example in helping someone to find a community with shared experiences, in places where there is still high stigma around mental health problems this is much less likely to be true.

2. Ensure mental health is intentional, not incidental

The fund will prioritise organisations running programmes which combine sport or physical activities with specific therapeutic elements, and who have access to mental health expertise.

Applications should have a clear theory of change for how your approach will affect wellbeing, showing an understanding of the existing evidence. Your application should be able to demonstrate how what you will do contributes to key outcomes that support wellbeing.

Comic Relief understand you may need additional time to refine your theory of change before the project delivery starts, and they will allow you up to 6 months of your project period to do this. Their funding can be used to pay for this. All projects must use sport as a tool for change in the approach.

3. Sustained support for individuals and in communities

Comic Relief will prioritise interventions which are embedded in local communities and which actively build local capacity and can demonstrate how they will continue once this funding finishes.

4. Quality and support of delivery staff

The quality of delivery staff is key to the effectiveness of the programme. They know that the relationships formed between participants and delivery staff is central to whether a programme has a positive impact on the mental health of participants. Because delivery staff are so central to successful programmes, it’s important to consider that delivery staff need to:

• Understand the purpose of the programme and the needs of the participants
• Be able to talk about their feelings with participants
• Not have prejudices that affect their role
• Understand that their role is about support
• Be supported with their own wellbeing (e.g. through induction, regular supervision and annual reviews)

5. Partnerships and working collaboratively

Comic Relief believe that projects developed and delivered in partnership with the people they aim to serve will be more effective in creating positive social change. Projects like this are more likely to respond to the priorities of the people they are trying to reach and be more able to identify appropriate solutions. Empowering participants to be part of the process can give them a sense of ownership of the project, helps build confidence and trust, and has the potential to strengthen community cohesion.

They encourage organisations to apply in partnership for this fund, particularly if you have identified a gap in expertise around either mental health or sport for change in your organisation.

Learning

Comic Relief seek to work with organisations that share our commitment to learning – it is central to much of what they do at Comic Relief. For that reason, they invest in organisations that can:

• Be self-reflective; considering which aspects of project delivery are working well, which aspects are less successful and why.
• Feed learning back into service delivery, with a desire for continual improvement.
• Respond to changing contexts and emerging needs – the issues you are dealing with may change over time and your work may need to respond to that.
• Engage with other Comic Relief grantees, where appropriate, practical and valuable. Comic Relief see real value in organisations coming together to learn from each other where they have shared approaches, target groups, contexts and challenges.
• Share learning externally, to support wider learning and coordination in the sector.

What Comic Relief will fund

• In the UK they will focus on supporting organisations to use sports based approaches to support people who are already experiencing mental health problems, whether these are self-determined or diagnosed.
• In Ghana, Uganda and Rwanda, they will support the following:
  • Organisations to deliver sports based approaches in communities where they can demonstrate people are at high risk of developing mental health problems.
  • Organisations to deliver sports based approaches who are working with those already experiencing mental health problems.
• All projects must use sport as a tool for change in the approach. Comic Relief’s Sport for Change strategy aims to bring about positive social change for individuals and communities through the intentional use of sport and physical activity. Please read their guide to developing a sport for change programme before you apply.
• Funding is available for a minimum of 3 years and a maximum of 5 years
• Applications are welcome for £150,000 to £450,000
• Projects must be delivered in the UK, Ghana, Rwanda or Uganda. Applications for work in more than one country will be considered, however the capacity of an organisation to manage the work will be assessed.
• Comic Relief are happy to cover the full cost of delivering a service or project, so please take a full cost recovery approach to your application budget.

Please note that organisations cannot submit an application to this fund as well as to the “Bridging the Gaps: Working Together to Strengthen Mental Health Support for Children and Young People” Fund that will be open for applications from 6 May 2019. You can only submit an application to one of the funding calls.

Who can apply

• Proposals can be made by single applicants, or by organisations working in partnership
• Organisations can only submit one proposal as the lead organisation (though they can be named as partners on any number of applications).
• The applicant must not have an annual income of less than £75,000 or more than £10 million.
• The requested amount must be proportionate to the annual income of your organisation, and this will be looked at as part of the assessment process. Comic Relief aim to fund no more than 40% of your organisation's total income in any one year.