Mental Health Awareness Week runs from May 15 – 22 and the racing industry is being encouraged to take action for mental health. The campaign is run by the Mental Health Foundation, and the theme for this year is ‘Anxiety’.

Racing’s human welfare charity, Racing Welfare, is leading racing’s response to this important awareness campaign, aiming to raise awareness of the signs and symptoms of anxiety, normalising conversations and signposting to support services. The charity is calling for people working in the racing industry to take action for their own mental health or for the mental health of others in the racing community.

Racing Welfare, in conjunction with Equine Productions, has produced a short film that depicts anxiety building up for a racehorse trainer, showcasing day-to-day scenarios that can lead to poor mental health. This can be watched below:

The racing community will be encouraged to join the conversation about mental health across social media this week using the hashtags #MentalHealthAwarenessWeek and #ToHelpMyAnxiety. For those wanting to go one step further, Racing Welfare offers heavily subsidised mental health training, including accredited Mental Health First Aid England courses for anyone working in the industry who’d like to gain formal mental health training.