Members of the “We Wear the Same Shirt (WWSS)” project held a football tournament on Sunday to raise awareness for mental ill-health.

The project was launched after research showed people with mental health issues are less likely to join in with team sports.

The project was given £104,000 by Sport Wales in November 2015, with weekly sessions taking place in Merthyr Town, Newport County, Newtown, and Wrexham.

“Many individuals dealing with mental health say that the discrimination they face is often worse than the illness itself. To make matters more difficult, this stigma acts as a barrier in stopping the same people from getting involved in sports and activities,” says the WWSS website.

Time to Change Wales, which published the research, found that just 28 per cent of people with mental health problems considered themselves sporty compared to 52 per cent with other impairments.

Lowri Wyn Jones, of Time to Change Wales, said: “The most important achievement of the sessions has been the communities that have formed in each club’s session, as social interaction and regular patterns in routine can be crucial for someone with a mental health problem.”