William speaks of importance of having supportive ‘people in life’

prince william he opened up to the importance of having a support network and being able to rely on friends when facing a difficult period. The Prince of Wales engaged in a candid talk on football and mental health with England players harry kane Y Declan Rice.

During a discussion led by host Kelvyn Quagraine, the royal guest on COPA90’s Game of 5s special episode released on Monday recalled how he fell in love with soccer when he was in school and how many friendships were forged while playing in teams.

These friendships, he said, become very important later in life when facing struggles, disappointments or heartbreak.

He said: “Some of the best friendships are born from playing games and being pushed through adversity together.

“And I definitely have a lot of friends whose relationship started on a team, fighting for each other and wanting to do what’s best for each other and for the team, so it’s very important that we have those moments, those people in life, who give us that support.

“Because there’s going to be a lot of times when it’s not going to be okay and at those times you can say listen, let’s have a beer, let’s sit and chat or let’s have a cup of tea and talk a little bit because I have something in my chest, or this bothers me or something. Maybe things didn’t turn out the way you expected, and having those people in your life is really important.”

Later during the show, the heir to the throne also said that everyone needs a support system to rely on when life gets tough.

After listening to Kane and Rice talk about some tough times in their lives and careers, he said, “But also how important the support structures are to you guys there.

“That moment of rejection, you have your father with his arm around you or you have people around you.

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“It must be very difficult for people who don’t have that support network to know who to lean on. We all need it, in all walks of life.”

“It’s so important that we have those support networks to catch us when we’re down.”

This special COPA90 program is part of the Prince of Wales’s long-term commitment to ending the stigma around mental health, helping people feel comfortable expressing their problems and educating them about the support systems available to all.

During the 25-minute conversation, the royal discussed SHOUT 85258, Britain’s only free 24/7 text messaging service for people experiencing a crisis.

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This service was launched in May 2019 by the Prince and Princess of Wales in association with the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, who were still active members of the Firm at the time.

Kate and Prince William also launched Heads Together with prince harry in 2016, an initiative that aimed to make people comfortable with the everyday mental health and well-being of themselves and their family and friends.

The Prince of Wales also spearheaded the launch of Heads Up in 2019, a collaboration between Heads Together and the Football Association that strives to show the country that physical and mental health are equally important.

Heads Up ran through the entire Premier League calendar that year and was aimed at men in particular, encouraging them to become more comfortable starting when facing difficult times.

Most recently, the Prince and Princess of Wales took over the BBC’s Newsbeat to lead a discussion on the importance of mental health, with a particular focus on younger generations.

During the show, William asked an expert to talk about the “toolbox” needed to react to difficult or traumatic situations.

He said: “A lot of the work we’ve done on mental health and hearing a lot of people talk about it, everybody likes a toolbox, especially men. A toolbox is a pretty useful analogy for the kind of use.

“A lot of people don’t realize what they need until it actually arrives. You can be living a life one minute and something changes hugely and you realize you don’t necessarily have the tools or the experience to be able to tackle that.” .”