Emsworth cause to hold charity football match at Havant and Waterlooville FC in hopes to raise thousands for Havant Mind

Founders of Charity Generation Talk More, which encourages young people to speak out about mental health, is running a charity football match at Havant and Waterlooville Football Club in aid of Mind, who offer support to people experiencing mental health problems.

Set up by Lauren Hewitt and Chelsea Britton, from Emsworth, this is set to be their second biggest fundraiser for the charity.

Emsworth Town FC will compete against CGTM’s charity team on May 29 at 6pm.

The duo started Generation Talk More in March 2021 to promote mental health awareness and encourage people to talk about it more - with a focus on helping the younger generation.

It came after the pair met on a dual carriageway after being bystanders to a tragic suicide attempt, and exchanged numbers afterwards - agreeing that more needed to be done to prevent incidents like this.

As well as the match, there will be a raffle, food & drink, and a bar.

Cash raised will support Mind, with the fundraising target standing at £2,500.

So far, Generation Talk More have raised funds totalling £653.

GTM's slogan reads ‘your struggle, your story’, inspiring, understanding and acceptance that everyone has been through something different.

Lauren explains: ‘The charity is designed not only to fundraise for Mind organisation, it's also to advocate and promote dealing with mental health issues.’

Their first fundraiser was a 30k walk, raising £3,000.

All proceeds will help Mind, sometimes being delegated to different branches.

This match will see cash support Mind in Havant.

The charity football team playing in the match was created two months ago, and they have been training since.

Lauren's friend had recently started a men's football team, so she thought it a great opportunity to approach another fundraiser from a men's mental health perspective - as she believes it is not talked about enough.

Emsworth Town FC team will play against the Generation Talk More squad – a team which started after Lauren and Chelsea posted on social media encouraging people to join in. It was a way to improve social lives, and make new friends for all those involved.