In early August 2025, Mindflow delivered our first ever Talk Football Talk Mental Health Match-Up session at VolkerStevin’s FRMS flood defence site in Preston. The team showed us around their vital work — and then gave us the floor to do ours.
Leading the session was Dr. Paul Stewart, former professional footballer, who shared his personal journey with the kind of honesty that changes rooms. People didn’t just listen. They connected.
Because this isn’t about presentations or policies. It’s about bringing lived experience into spaces where silence has too long been the norm. It’s about using football — a shared language on nearly every site — to start conversations that matter.
Match-Ups are Mindflow’s way of meeting workers where they are.
On-site. In the thick of it. We spark peer-led conversations, challenge stigma, and make support feel reachable — not like something that lives in a poster on a canteen wall.
Huge thanks to Mitch Mitchelmore, Stephanie Skeffington, and Phil Mahon for making this one happen!
What's coming next?
Mindflow is bringing Match-Ups to more sites across the UK — because we believe the most important safety tool isn’t a hard hat. It’s being able to say, “I’m not OK” — and be heard.
Want to bring a Match-Up to your site? Find out more here →
