‘Friendship Benches’ presented at Stadium 974

Thirty-two ‘friendship benches’ representing the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 competing nations are being set up in prominent locations across Qatar to promote mental well-being.
On the occasion of World Mental Health Day, a selection of the first benches was presented at Stadium 974 in Doha. Earlier, the banks initiative was symbolically launched with the Bank of England previewing the Qatar Foundation’s global health event, the World Innovation Summit for Health (WISH), in the run-up to a larger reveal. of banks on World Mental Health Day, FIFA said in a statement.

The project is part of the Sport for Health partnership, run by the World Health Organization and the Qatar Ministry of Public Health (MoPH). The banks’ initiative is supported by FIFA, the SC, WISH, the NGO Friendship Benches and the WHO’s Partnership for Universal Health Coverage.
The goal of the initiative is to demonstrate the importance of mental health and offer advice on ways to promote mental well-being, including through the importance of physical activity and sport.
English athlete Sir Mo Farah, whose 10 World and Olympic gold medals make him the most successful men’s track distance runner in history, opened the England bench, where he was joined by HE Sheikha Hind bint Hamad al-Thani, Vice President and Executive Director. of the Qatar Foundation, for a conversation on sport and mental health, a symbolic acknowledgment of the initiative.