Bat & Chat on the BBC!

On Friday 18^th July 2025, we had the pleasure of several members of the National Mind Physical Activity team attending our Toyota-funded Bat & Chat Cricket project to introduce the plan for the roll-out of the programme nationally into the ‘Thorpey’s Bat & Chat’ initiative. Amanda Thorpe also visited on this day, along with the presenter John Maguire from BBC Breakfast and Alex the cameraman!

It was an honour to meet Amanda and show her the project in action; she reported being thrilled to see it after having read about it a while back. She said she is so pleased to see how it works and that she can really see how many people it is going to help. Other local Minds will gain the opportunity to run similar programmes off the back of the fundraising they are doing in her husband Graham’s memory. See more info on ‘A Day for Thorpey’ below.

BBC Breakfast took lots of footage of the project in action and spoke to both our Project Support Coordinator, Emma as well as Amanda on the day. This footage was then put together with a pre-recorded interview Amanda and her daughter’s Emma & Kitty did a few weeks earlier. It was then broadcast on BBC Breakfast and BBC news programmes throughout the day on Monday 21^st July 2025.

If you would like to see the full clip, you can view it here via the link: here

We will also be supporting National Mind in the co-production of some handbooks that will be created and launched alongside the new ‘Thorpey’s Bat & Chat’ initiative, which will be available for the participants who take part in the new programme.

We are all incredibly honoured to have been involved in this initiative and for our wonderful Bat & Chat Cricket project to be recognised and replicated in this way. It has had an incredible impact on the lives of the people who have been a part of it since it was first designed and delivered back in 2023, and we look forward to seeing it help so many more people across the country with their mental health & wellbeing.

We are thrilled that the hard work of the whole team has been recognised in this way and for the Burton & District Mind name to have been given this national exposure! A huge thank you and congratulations to everyone who has played a part in this.

A Day for Thorpey

The main fundraising event that is being held in memory of Cricket Legend Graham Thorpe is taking place on the second day of the Test Match England V India on Friday 1^st August at the Kia Oval in London.

National Mind will be promoting and selling the iconic ‘Thorpey Sweatbands’ to raise money to support the roll of out of Thorpey’s Bat & Chat across the local Mind network. More information on the fundraising event can be found here: Graham Thorpe to be honoured at Test Match: A Day for Thorpey

The sweatbands are also available to buy now ahead of the event via these links here: shop.mind.org.uk and the Mind eBay store, and on sale at the Kia Oval Cricket ground on 1st August, for £5 each. 

A JustGiving page has also been set up to donate or you can text to donate £5, £10 or £20 to Mind, text THORPEY5, THORPEY10 OR THORPEY20 to 70255.

We wish Mind, Amanda and the family all the very best for the event, and we know that it will be an incredible success with sales of the bands soaring straight away after they were first available on Monday, 21^st July.