Gabby Logan and Robbie Savage, have become the latest celebrities to support and feature in Legal & General’s “Not a Red Card Offence” campaign, launched to tackle the stigma surrounding mental health in the workplace.
The sport personalities join Olympic gold-medal hockey winners Kate and Helen Richardson-Walsh, international rugby union referee Nigel Owens, and many other well-known sportspeople supporting the campaign.
Logan said: “’In my personal and professional life, I have seen the importance of people seeking help when things become too much. Prevention is always better than cure. While it can take some time to open up, it is amazing how willing people are to help if asked. Sport has made such progress on issues of mental health in recent years and together with campaigns such as ‘Not A Red Card’ we have a powerful platform to make a difference.”
Savage added: “I’m proud to be involved with the ‘Not A Red Card’ campaign. Some of my closest friends have been deeply affected by mental health issues; strong, successful men who from the outside appeared to have everything. Through that I’ve learnt that it’s vital to seek support – even if as in my case it is just someone to talk to now and again for perspective and reassurance.”
As part of their support for the campaign, Logan and Savage have taken part in the latest campaign video, which can be viewed here.
The campaign aims to raise awareness of the importance of creating a workplace environment which encourages open discussions about mental health issues and how critical support from an employer can be to helping those suffering.
Recent research by Legal & General shows employees still feel uncomfortable talking about mental health issues in the workplace. Only 4% of 2,000 employees surveyed who have experienced depression and 5% who have experienced anxiety said they felt able to talk to their manager or superior about it, yet a huge 78% of employers believed their employees to be comfortable discussing such problems at work.