Following last week’s launch, we can confirm that local company Henry Boot Construction have donated a significant grant to support Reds in the Community’s delivery of the Safety Nets programme.

Safety Nets is a mental health support initiative run by Reds in the Community and CAMHS (Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services) Barnsley.

The weekly programme, which is based at Oakwell, incorporates an hour of physical activity and sport with a 30-minute workshop focusing on a wide range of topics including living a healthy lifestyle, coping strategies and social media.

Henry Boot have kindly donated £2000, which will allow Reds in the Community and CAMHS Barnsley to run three more cohorts of the eight-week scheme in 2020.

Steve Green, Contracts Manager, Henry Boot Construction said: “We are proud to support Reds in the Community as they launch Safety Nets. Raising awareness and supporting mental health issues is extremely important to us and the programme will have such a positive impact in the community by using sports activities to provide a safe space to help support young people in Barnsley.”

Reds in the Community’s Social Inclusion Officer Hannah Philips gave an insight into the huge impact that Henry Boot’s generous donation will make.

She said: “It’s nice that a high profile company like Henry Boot have got involved and can help us support more young people through their mental health programmes. That money will go directly to our Safety Nets. We’re running sessions already. This money will be used next year to continue that even further. It’ll go a long way to engaging with some more people that need our support.

“We do a lot of work in other areas in the community but mental health is on the up unfortunately and we need some more support to try and reach out to more young people. This will go a really long way towards helping more children in the Barnsley area.”