E67 - Mental Health Awareness Week Special with Heather Lewis
- services2230
- Oct 30, 2025
- 1 min read
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This year's Mental Health Awareness Week is themed around movement, including sport and this week we have a special episode with Heather Lewis, project manager at the Mental Health Foundation. Alongside her work, Heather has a specific academic interest in elite sport, having completed a Master's at St. Mary's Twickenham on mental health within a Rugby World Cup context.
The Mental Health Foundation is there for people of all faiths and none, this conversation includes Heather's reflections on her personal faith and how that plays out in her work, sport and research.
0:00 Intro and Heather's bio
2:34 What is Mental Health Awareness Week all about?
4:28 Moving more for mental health
6:23 How did Heather come to work at the Mental Health Foundation?
7:57 Why amateur sport can be so good for mental health
12:14 How Heather's faith shapes her approach to work
13:55 Researching mental health in elite sport
16:52 What was surprising in your research?
18:53 The tension between performance requirements and player care
22:53 Key recommendations for performance
26:34 What was the response to your research?
28:50 How will your faith shape your actions based on your findings?
30:28 What Heather learnt from years as a chaplain in elite sport
32:38 What do you do now with elite athletes as a lifestyle advisor?
35:46 How can we learn from this in amateur sport
38:19 How does your faith shape what you long to see in your work?
39:43 Outro
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