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Football fan sets up mental health voice note site

Football fan sets up mental health voice note site

Yahooa day ago
A football fan from Norfolk has set up a support network for people struggling with mental ill health.
Say It Lad allows people to share voice notes anonymously which are curated and posted on to a website.
The idea is to help people externalise their thoughts and to take inspiration from others who are either experiencing difficulties or who have overcome their troubles.
Founder Jonny Human told BBC Radio Norfolk's The Scrimmage: "They can just hear other voices; other experiences and just know that they're not alone."
Former Premier League footballer and boxer Leon McKenzie is an ambassador of Say It Lad.
Having served a prison sentence in 2012 for sending bogus letters to police in an attempt to avoid a driving ban, he has struggled with his own mental health.
In a voice note on the Say It Lad website, he said: "It's all about trying to be together, because every one of us has gone, and is going through, some kind of something.
"To be an ambassador is very powerful and I'm looking forward to listening to people, and collectively making something very powerful and inspiring, helping others who are truly struggling."
Mr Human, 47, who works for a software company based in the Norwich, has been a life-long Canaries fan.
He has self-funded Say It Lad - which he came up with after a downturn in his own mental health - and is in the process of applying for community interest company status for the website.
"I had some crazy breakdown; it came out of nowhere," he said.
"It was like one morning I woke up and someone flicked a switch. I was having suicidal thoughts. From being completely normal to having those feelings scared the life out of me."
He found that cognitive behavioural therapy via the NHS was not for him: "All these people say 'talk to me', but you feel so alone at that point.
"With Say It Lad, I just wanted people to leave voice notes that I can put on a site and they can listen and relate... and feel 'I'm not alone'."
Mr Human's colleague Danny Tanti turned to the service following the death of his mother.
"There was a massive cloud over me. One day I was all right, the next I wasn't," he explained.
"I've been to wellbeing services but this just felt different; like a massive release like I was being listened to, even though it was a voice note. It was a weight off my shoulders.
"The power of the voice note is so much different to texting, leaving details [and] motivational quotes."
If you have been affected by the issues in this story, help and support is available via BBC Action Line.
Follow Norfolk news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
Moving Norwich City mental health video hailed by UEFA
Opening up can help in tough times - Marcondes
Related internet links
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