Positive mental health video shot at Newport gym

When a new charity, Sportingmindsuk, was looking for a venue to shoot video footage and photographs as content for their new website, Maurice Cooney, owner of Alpha Athletic Gym in Newport, didn’t hesitate to offer up his gym free of charge for the day.

With the mission to raise awareness and provide support to enable positive mental health in young sports people, Sportingmindsuk has been launched by Staffordshire born 19-year-old cricketer and student Callum Lea, who knows from personal experience that the representative sport environment can be a tough one, filled with pressure and uncertainty.

Mr Cooney said: “I really identified with what Callum is aiming to do, creating a network and community in which representative young sports people from any sport can be open and honest about their mental health, and having a greater awareness for others' mental health too.

"I was pleased to offer my gym up for the day as the venue for the video and photo shoot, and it’s great to see the gym featured as the backdrop for videos and images on the charities new website.”

Mr Lea said: “We’d like to thank Maurice and the team at Alpha Athletic Gym for offering up the gym free of charge for the day.

"We took some great footage which you can see on our website and in other media.

"Newport should be really proud it has such a brilliant facility in the town, and we look forward to coming back when the gym is three times the size after the current extensions.”

For more information about the charity visit sportingmindsuk.org