Football Manager 2018 partners with the NHS to promote mental health awareness

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Good game.

Football Manager 2018 will host an in-game mental health awareness campaign in partnership with the UK's National Health Service. 

Designed to target "hard to reach" young men, digital pitch-side advertising boards promoting NHS Leeds Clinical Commissioning Group's MindMate website will be added to the game's 3D match engine. 

As reported by the BBC (via PC Games Insider), clicking through the ads takes players to the Mindmate homepage—which features mental health advice, resources, a games suite, and stories from young people. The adverts are geo-targeted to the Leeds area and will run till mid-May, says the BBC.  

"Mental health and wellbeing is an important subject for children and young people," the CCG's Dr Jane Mischenko tells the BBC, "so our aim is to signpost MindMate as a resource that they can turn to for support and advice when the time suits them."

Bidstack's Simon Mitchell developed the adverts. He adds: "Males in particular are hard to reach and engage, and the gaming environment in Football Manager is a great way to connect with them."

Football Manager 2018's in-game sponsors cover a wide range of retail and technology outlets, but also include the likes of videogames charity Special Effect and Prostate Cancer UK. 

If you struggle with mental health, here are some useful contacts: 

UK Samaritans: 116 123 (free to call from landlines and mobile)
US National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 1-800-273-8255
International Suicide Prevention Directory

Joe Donnelly
Deputy Editor, PC Gaming Show