Everton Football Club and charity Everton In The Community have recognised the importance in supporting those who suffer from mental health problems by launching a new campaign to raise funds to build a permanent facility.
Subject to planning permission, the proposed centre, 'The People's Place', will be based at Goodison Park and will provide a service to those in the community with regard to mental health and suicide awareness and prevention.
The campaign, which has the full support of Everton CEO Professor Denise Barrett-Baxendale, first team manager Marco Silva and the first team squad, will work in collaboration with national mental health charity Chasing the Stigma, an organisation which endeavours to normalise mental health, at a time where the illness is at a record high.
A statement from the club reads: "Everyone has mental health in the same way that everyone has physical health and one in four people experience poor mental health each year whilst suicide kills 150 people across Merseyside a year. Mental illness and suicide are significant public health challenges which are more common in more significantly deprived inner-city areas such as L4 where almost the entire ward of Everton falls into the most deprived five percent of neighbourhoods nationally."
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While CEO Denise Barrett-Baxendale said: "Everton in the Community's award-winning mental health provision is regularly recognised on an international and national stage, yet we recognise the major need in our community - and beyond - to further develop, enhance and evolve our current provision.
"Mental illnesses, unlike physical injuries, are invisible to everyone but to those experiencing them. Their reality is no different and no less painful. Many people suffer in silence, unaware that helpful and supportive treatments are available. Our new facility will work to encourage people to talk more freely and will operate an open-door policy to anyone needing to talk.
"There is a real demand for this in our city and our community. Since we opened the People's Hub we have had people walk through our door seeking mental health support and I'm proud to say we have supported those individuals. Residents in Liverpool, members of the L4 community and our fans see us a beacon of hope and support.
Silva, who is about to undergo his inaugural season as Toffees boss added: "Since the first day I arrived at the Club, everyone talked to me about the Everton Family. We are more than just a club, we are a family. We want to keep creating this fantastic connection between us and our fans and all of the community. We want to support them, and we want to give them something back.
"This People's Place project is important to us as a Club. Me and my staff are here to support and do everything we can."
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For more information on Everton in the Community visit www.evertonfc.com/community