On World Mental Health Day (10 October 2023) all the UK's athletics governing bodies, several mass participation event organisers, and major running community groups have jointly signed an open letter to Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, Sir Keir Starmer and Sir Ed Davey, sounding the alarm on the intensifying mental health crisis among young people.

The letter is jointly signed by England Athletics, Welsh Athletics, Scottish Athletics, Athletics NI, Youth Sport Trust, Sport and Recreation Alliance, London Marathon Events, The Great Run Company, The Daily Mile, and parkrun.

While extolling the virtues of our sport, the signatories are asking political leaders to ‘unlock the power of sport’ to play a significant role in supporting the physical and mental well-being of the nation, starting with our children.

The letter emphasises: "A lifetime of activity, leading to a happier, healthier population, needs to start and be embedded throughout our school years." It ends with a potent call to action: "We’re calling on all party leaders to put physical and health literacy at the heart of the future school curriculum, giving all children and young people access to high-quality PE, co-curricular activity, and community provision."

In the year to March 2023, there were 21,555 urgent referrals to mental health crisis teams, up 46% on 2022. Meanwhile, data released by the government earlier this year showed the number of hours young people spend doing physical education and sport in secondary schools in England has fallen by more than 12% since the 2012 London Olympics.

According to recent data from the Sport and Recreation Alliance, we currently rank a lowly joint 11th out of 15 neighbouring European nations for activity levels and we spend more on healthcare, directly linked to inactivity, than all but two countries in Europe.

All signatories, from grassroots community clubs to the UK’s biggest mass participation running events, have seen the profound and positive effect physical activity can have on mental health and wellbeing in children and adults. The signatories are urging politicians to respond and actively integrate sports and physical activity into the nation's mental health and education strategies to provide a long-term solution to this growing crisis.

The full text of the letter can be read at the London Marathon Group website here.

Photo courtesy London Marathon Media