England footballer Millie Bright becomes YoungMinds Ambassador

Lioness defender and Chelsea captain Millie Bright teams up with leading charity for children and young people’s mental health. 

The charity YoungMinds has revealed a star new player – with Millie Bright signing up to help tackle mental health challenges and help the organisation achieve its goals. (Enough football jokes, thank you – Ed.) 

Millie Bright (right), photo courtesy of YoungMinds

As a YoungMinds Ambassador, she’ll add her voice to campaigns to aid young people’s mental health, and to raise awareness of related issues. Of course, being captain of Chelsea and playing for the Lionesses in the World Cup means Millie is no stranger to pressure. But she also brings to this new role her own experience of mental health problems – and how to manage them. 

Among her first engagements as ambassador is next month’s ‘Hello Yellow’, the charity’s flagship awareness initiative to coincide with World Mental Health Day on October 10. Hello Yellow involves thousands of schools, companies and communities, who make the day that little bit brighter by wearing something yellow and donating to YoungMinds.  

Beyond this, Millie will support YoungMinds’ wider campaigns work. 

YoungMinds Ambassadors are public figures who help the charity raise awareness of and champion young people’s mental health. Other ambassadors include Channel 4 News journalist Cathy Newman, presenters Lauren Layfield and Katie Thistleton, and social media star Jada Sezer. 

Mille Bright says: ‘I’m so excited to be a YoungMinds Ambassador, to work with young people and fight for a world that supports their mental health. Having experienced mental health problems myself and going through some tough times inside and out of football, I know how it feels to struggle. I’ve seen my family struggle too, which has been so hard. Looking back, I wish I had support or somewhere to go to, and I can see why the resources and help that YoungMinds offer is a lifeline for young people, and why it is so important to campaign for change. I want to make sure more young people know that they don’t have to struggle alone and how to access support if they need it.’ 

Laura Bunt, Chief Executive of YoungMinds, adds: ‘We are delighted that Millie Bright is joining us as a YoungMinds Ambassador. She is an inspirational leader for so many young people and a powerful role model who has also shared her own struggles with her mental health. More young people than ever before are reaching out for support for their mental health, which is impacting the whole of society from NHS services to schools, from young people themselves to their families. We have a lot of work ahead of us but together with Millie we can fight for a better future for all young people.’ 

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