{"id":156258,"date":"2025-10-21T12:51:25","date_gmt":"2025-10-21T11:51:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/?p=156258"},"modified":"2025-10-21T12:51:25","modified_gmt":"2025-10-21T11:51:25","slug":"building-strength-together-how-football-can-help-change-game-mental-health-in-construction","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/health-safety-news\/building-strength-together-how-football-can-help-change-game-mental-health-in-construction\/156258\/","title":{"rendered":"Building strength, together: How football can help change the game for mental health in construction"},"content":{"rendered":"

Trevor Steven, CEO of Mindflow<\/a> and former Everton, Rangers and England footballer, discusses his new initiative to tackle mental health in construction<\/h2>\n

It\u2019s an honour to lead Mindflow, a charity born from a shared purpose: to save lives in the construction industry through the influence of football. Both worlds are part of my story. Both are made up of proud, hard-working people who give their all. And both face the same, often unspoken challenge – mental health.<\/p>\n

When I look back on my football career, I think of a fresh-faced lad from Berwick-upon-Tweed, pulling on the Burnley shirt for the first time in 1980. The terraces were packed, the tackles hard, the camaraderie fierce. Later came Everton, Rangers and England, an incredible journey filled with pride, pressure and purpose. But there was something we didn\u2019t talk about then \u2014 how we felt.<\/p>\n

Then and now<\/h3>\n

Back in the 1980s, football was built on strength, stoicism and silence. You got on with the job. No one wanted to appear weak. Mental health just wasn\u2019t a conversation we had.<\/p>\n

That same \u201cstiff upper lip\u201d culture still runs deep in construction. Men (and it mostly is men) take pride in graft, push through pain, and rarely ask for help. It\u2019s the backbone of Britain. But it\u2019s also, too often, a silent killer.<\/p>\n

Thankfully, the world is changing. In sport, in business, in society, we\u2019re learning that opening up isn\u2019t weakness; it\u2019s courage. And that same shift is urgently needed across construction.<\/p>\n

The scale of the challenge<\/h3>\n

According to Mind, one in four people experiences a mental health problem every year. Suicide remains the biggest killer of men under 45. Those numbers are shocking enough \u2014 but they\u2019re worse in construction. Research shows that two construction workers take their own lives every working day.<\/p>\n

Behind every statistic is a story. A colleague, a friend, a father. Lives cut short, families torn apart. That\u2019s why I said yes when Causeway Technologies, a company determined to improve mental health in construction, founded Mindflow earlier this year. Our mission is simple: to improve mental health standards, start conversations, and make sure no one faces their struggles alone.<\/p>\n

Launching Mindflow<\/h3>\n

We launched Mindflow at the National Football Museum in Manchester, a fitting venue for a movement that connects football\u2019s influence with construction\u2019s resilience.<\/p>\n

Our ambassadors \u2014 Manchester City legend Paul Lake and David White, along with Tottenham\u2019s Paul Stewart, joined me for an evening celebrating unity and purpose.<\/p>\n

Since then, I\u2019ve travelled across the country, listening and learning. Alongside Causeway, we surveyed over 1,400 construction workers. The results were stark:<\/p>\n