Food & Health Alliance

Physical activity through sport or recreation has been proven to have a positive impact on physical and mental health and wellbeing.

Supported by funds from Comic Relief, SAMH embarked on a project to understand why people experiencing a mental health problem can find it difficult to participate in physical activity. This was particularly important as there is much evidence to suggest there is a link between regular physical activity and improved mental health.

Work on the Charter was launched by SAMH Ambassador, Sir Chris Hoy, in 2016 and was developed through the People Active for Change & Equality (PACE) project with representatives from:

NHS Health Scotland
Sportscotland
SPORTA
Scottish Student Sport
North Lanarkshire Leisure
KA Leisure
Glasgow Sport

The result is Scotland’s Mental Health Charter for Physical Activity and Sport which sets out how sport and recreation organisations can adopt positive mental health practice to ensure everyone can engage, participate and achieve in physical activity and sport.

Read the charter below: