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Posted: Sat 28th Feb 2026
Updated: Sat 28th Feb
The Welsh Government’s mental health awareness training programme for grassroots football clubs was directly inspired by the death of a Connah’s Quay Town FC player, the minister responsible has told the Senedd.
Jack Sargeant MS (Labour, Alyn and Deeside), the Minister for Culture, Skills and Social Partnership, said his friend Jamie Wynne’s death by suicide prompted the creation of a scheme that has now reached 350 clubs and coaches across Wales.
Mr Sargeant told Members: “I did this because I saw the power of sport and the role that sport can play when Connah’s Quay Town in my own constituency launched a well-being section in response to losing a player of theirs and my best friend of 20 years, Jamie Wynne, to suicide.”
The minister was responding to a short debate last week on grassroots sport led by Buffy Williams MS (Labour, Rhondda), who had asked how sport was being recognised as part of Wales’s wider mental health and preventative health strategy.
Mr Sargeant said the programme was launched in partnership with Mind and UK Coaching, with 1,000 mental health awareness training courses funded for community football clubs through the Football Association of Wales.
“Three hundred and fifty clubs and coaches have taken that opportunity up, enhancing the role that they can play in supporting vulnerable people in their communities,” he said.
The scheme is now being extended to rugby clubs. Mr Sargeant urged every football and rugby club in Wales, and every MS, to encourage local clubs to take part.
“More recently, we have worked to roll this initiative out to rugby clubs, and I encourage every rugby club, every football club in Wales and every Member of this Senedd to encourage their community clubs to take part in this training.”
The minister also set out the wider case for grassroots sport as a preventative health measure.
“Grass-roots and community sport matters because it delivers far more than participation alone,” he said. “It supports physical and mental well-being, helping people stay active and improve their quality of life. It plays a preventative role, supporting healthier lifestyles long before people reach crisis point.”
He added that community clubs “bring people together, they reduce isolation, they create safe, welcoming spaces where people feel they belong.”
Mr Sargeant confirmed that the Welsh Government had invested over £59 million in capital funding through Sport Wales in new and upgraded sporting facilities this Senedd term, with increased funding planned for next year. A separate £2.5 million package for facilities and elite pathways was announced in December.
He did not give a breakdown of how much of that funding has reached North Wales clubs or how many of the 350 participating clubs are based in the region.
“I encourage every rugby club, every football club in Wales and every Member of this Senedd to encourage their community clubs to take part in this training.”
If you have been affected by suicide or are struggling with your mental health, the following services can help:
National Advisory and Liaison Service (NALS) Cymru offers free, confidential support to anyone in Wales affected by a death by suicide. Freephone 0800 048 7742 or visit nals.cymru. The service is delivered by the Jac Lewis Foundation.
CALL Helpline (Community Advice and Listening Line) provides mental health support across Wales. Freephone 0800 132 737.
Samaritans are available 24 hours a day on 116 123. A Welsh language line is available on 0808 164 0123.
Survivors of Bereavement by Suicide (SOBS) runs a national helpline on 0300 111 5065 (Monday to Friday, 9am to 9pm) and local peer support groups.
For urgent mental health support, call NHS 111 and press 2.
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