Norwich City FC Teams Up with The Samaritans to Launch Football’s First “Minute Unsilenced” Initiative

By Assisi Azzopardi on Monday, October 14, 2024

To mark World Mental Health Day (Thursday 10th October 2024), Norwich City FC and The Samaritans teamed up to launch ‘1-minute unsilenced’, at a live football match.

In the UK, a life is lost to suicide every 90 minutes—the length of a football match. To raise awareness, fans participated in a “1-minute unsilenced” event just before the Norwich City vs. Hull City match, breaking the silence on mental health.

At Carrow Road, instead of the usual 1-minute silence observed at football matches to honour someone who has passed, fans were encouraged to break the silence and speak to fellow fans.

Zoe Webber, executive director at Norwich City says: ”We’re extremely proud and passionate about the impact of our work in this area. It must not be overlooked that in the UK one person dies by suicide every 90 minutes.

“Since we were made aware of this statistic, it has fuelled our mission to use our club platform and voice to help prevent suicide.

“Our message this year continues the theme of the video we created in 2023 – you are not alone – but this year we will be highlighting the support available to anyone who needs help with their mental health and encouraging them to reach out to that network.”