Two suicide prevention benches have been unveiled in Saxmundham as part of a charity campaign led by former Spurs midfielder Micky Hazard.
Hazard, 64, who represented Tottenham Hotspur more than 100 times during two spells, winning the FA and UEFA Cups, lost his own 23-year-old nephew, Jay, to suicide in 2019. Together with his sister Michelle, they founded the Legend on the Bench charity to offer support to anyone who feels like they might be suffering alone.
"The idea was my sister’s,” admits Hazard, who undertook a six-month online mental health course with TQUK after the loss of his nephew.
As he unveiled the bench in Saxmundham, he quoted Ricky Gervais’s character in the Netflix series Afterlife, "A society grows great when old men plant trees, the shade of which they know they will never sit in.”
Hazard, who also had spells with Chelsea and Swindon, knows only too well how people’s mental health problems are often hidden in plain sight. A midfielder who prided himself on reading the intentions of opposing players, he still wakes up regretting that he was unable to spot the signs in his own nephew.
"People who are having those thoughts, they're the best in the world at disguising it. We have to be more aware of that fact.”
One in four people suffer from mental health problems each year and while the benches cannot prevent the causes, Hazard hopes to at least let those suffering know there are people willing to offer support.
Using the tagline ‘Someone is always listening’, the installation of park benches, they hope, will speak to people feeling lost and isolated. Each bench has a plaque with QR codes, which will take anyone requiring support directly to a designated help page.
There are also telephone numbers on the bench for those seeking support from helplines staffed 24/7 and the benches have in-built solar panels providing lighting, intended to offer a ray of hope to those suffering from mental health issues in silence.
Hazard raises funds for the charity through his ever-popular ‘An Evening With’ Spurs legends nights. Former team-mates like Pat Jennings, Osvaldo Ardiles and David Howells have supported him by appearing at the various bench reveals.
In 18 months, benches have been installed in Peterborough, Sawbridgeworth and even two within Regent’s Park in London. Last month a bench in memory of the late Caroline Flack - who took her own life in 2020 - was unveiled in North London within sight of the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
"The support has been incredible,” Hazard told TWTD. "From that bench, we've been inundated with very powerful people wanting to be part of the charity.”
After contacting Hazard, Colin Merryweather and Keef Cartwright-Jones from the Saxmundham Judo Club set out to install the first bench in Suffolk. Cartwright-Jones organised a sponsored 26-mile walk starting and ending in Saxmundham, raising funds through a JustGiving page.
They surpassed their own expectations, raising over £4,000, which was enough to pay for the installation of two benches. The first is within the Saxmundham Memorial Park, the second, revealed later the same afternoon, at the Kelsale Sports Ground just north of the town.
Cartwright-Jones chose the second site after talking to a man sitting alone in the field one night. He hopes the benches can encourage people to start conversations between people.
"That's what people need to do to, to talk,” he said. "If we can save one life, then we've achieved what we've set out to. The community have got together to make these benches. It's something in the town to be very proud of.”
With Ipswich Town set to make their first visit to the new Tottenham Hotspur Stadium next weekend, Hazard also gave his thoughts on the Blues’ winless start to the Premier League season.
"They've been a little bit unlucky, I think they've played well,” he said. "The problem is at the top, you can play well and still get beat.”
He has fond memories of locking horns with some of the fabled Ipswich Town teams under Bobby Robson in the 1980s. "They had a great side. It's nice to see them back where they should be.”