Typhoons Tackle Wellbeing Challenge
Typhoons RUFC have been aware of the need to help members look after their physical and mental health, proving a lifeline.
The club recently celebrated their third birthday. As Lancashire's first inclusive rugby club which welcomes all abilities, shapes, sizes and sexualities, their membership has grown from a few players at the outset to a current 75. Preston Grasshoppers have been a big part of that growth, giving them a home at Lightfoot Green Lane and championing diversity and inclusion in rugby.
When one Typhoons member, Lucas Chapman, found himself homeless at 18, with just a bag, a dog and five pounds in his pocket, he turned to the club he had joined a few months earlier.
Typhoons put him in touch with Out in the Bay, an LGBTQ+ charity, which helped him find a temporary place to stay at a youth homeless shelter. Now, with the rugby club’s help, he has a home of his own, shared with his dog Arlo, and cats George and Archie.
Lucas, who has autism said: “I remember standing in Lancaster with a backpack full of really random stuff. I think I had about five pounds money wise, a dog, some wet dog food, a pair of socks, a T-shirt. That was about it."
The club, having helped him find a temporary home, stayed in regular touch to check on his wellbeing, as well as freezing his membership payments. He has spent the past year during the pandemic in his own home.
Lucas said: “Right now I’m doing really well. I had a really bad year, for six months of last year my mental health plummeted, and again the Typhoons were amazing through that. It’s taken me still quite a while to adjust to everything and get in the stride of things, but when I look to the future, it’s a lot more clear than it was two and a half years ago. I still struggle, but I feel that things are getting there.”
The Typhoons chairman Chris Goulding said: “We really try to be there for our members and have a lot of networks around us to help when needed. Everyone has a different reason to be part of our club.
“We were pretty sure that physical and mental health was really being affected by the pandemic so we surveyed members at the end of last year, analysed the results and created an initiative that we’ve called ‘Tackle It’. As the months of lockdown rolled on we’d noticed some of the Typhoons starting to struggle. Some experienced additional challenges as a result of the lockdown that many of us wouldn’t ever consider.
“We applied for some funding through Comic Relief’s LGBTQ+ COVID 19 Recovery Fund, in partnership with METRO charity and the Equality Network. Thanks to a £5000 grant, between January and June of this year, our players have free access to things like counselling, physiotherapy, virtual personal trainers as well as other services so they can feel supported and stay healthy in body and mind.”
With a return to outdoor sport Typhoons are looking forward to welcoming back their members and said Chris: “What rugby offers to our members is immeasurable. The pandemic has been a huge challenge to many of them and we can’t wait to see them return to the club and to give Lucas a big welcome as soon as he’s ready to get back out on the pitch.”
