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Offload Returns!

Featherstone Rovers Foundation Joins Forces with Castleford Tigers and Wakefield Trinity to Launch the acclaimed mental fitness training programme, Offload, with Rugby League Cares, backed by Live Well Wakefield.

Featherstone Rovers Foundation, in partnership with Castleford Tigers Foundation and Wakefield Trinity Foundation, is proud to relaunch the transformative Offload mental fitness programme across the Wakefield District. Funded by Live Well Wakefield, the district’s leading social prescribing service, the initiative aims to tackle men’s mental health challenges head-on through the power of Rugby League.

Offload offers men aged 18 and over the chance to step behind the scenes of their local clubs and learn how top Rugby League professionals maintain their mental strength alongside physical performance. The programme was created with rugby league communities, asking what they needed, with over 15’000 adults benefitting since it’s launch in 2017. Participants will meet current and former players, and coaches, gaining practical, evidenced-based techniques that equip you with the tools to effectively manage life. The sessions are group-based, with a strong focus on engagement and community, which is created from our experienced facilitators.

The six-week ‘season of fixtures’ kicks off Monday 8th September , 6-7pm hosted by Featherstone Rovers Foundation.

Amy Hardman, Head of the Rovers Foundation said “Bringing Offload back to Featherstone, and working alongside our professional club partners in Castleford and Wakefield, means we can collectively reach more men across our communities who may be suffering in silence. Rugby League is at the heart of these towns, and that heart is now driving vital mental health support through Rugby League Cares.”

Backed by Live Well Wakefield, Offload directly supports the local social prescribing network’s goal of improving community health through non-clinical interventions. With mental illness costing the UK economy over £70 billion annually and suicide rates alarmingly high, especially among men - this program meets a critical need. In the Wakefield District alone, men account for a staggering 86% of suicides, far surpassing the national average of 75%.

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“Offload doesn’t just change lives—it saves them,” said Emma Goldsmith, Head of Community at Rugby League Cares, who developed the programme. “The partnership between our local professional Rugby League clubs allows us to extend this life-changing work across the entire district. We know the challenges men face, and we know how to help.”

 

Participants in Offload will build resilience through developing their own “mental fitness playbook,” while also gaining access to further opportunities within the Foundations - including physical activity sessions, heritage projects, and volunteering.

To register for the free Offload sessions with us, please contact: foundation.admin@featherstonerovers.co.uk

or

click through to our booking form

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