Backed by Amazon this season, the Darlington FC Foundation’s impact in the North East community continues to grow with the expansion of its core community football programmes.
One of the many participants who benefits from the wide range of Amazon-backed mental health programmes run by Darlington FC Foundation is local man, Carl Mansfield. Carl has been coming to the Foundation’s Think With Your Feet sessions since November 2022, which makes him one of the longest-standing members of the group. Carl has lived with depression for most of his life and has now been off medication for more than two years. That’s something he puts down, in part, to two hours of football on a Tuesday afternoon.
Football had always been in his life, until it quietly stopped being a key part of who he was. Sunday league came to an end, his children arrived, and he tried to move on without it.
“I think that was a big part of why I ended up suffering with depression,” he said. “So coming back and playing again through this programme with the Darlington FC Foundation has massively helped me.”
“I suffer with depression,” Carl explained. “I’ve been on medication for it in the past. Thankfully, because of this and other things I’ve done - like developing new coping mechanisms - means I’ve been off medication now for over two years.”
Carl plays football through the Foundation’s mental wellbeing programme every Tuesday, and describes what it’s helped him achieve.
“Just coming out here, getting a run about every week, seems to blow the cobwebs away and help me a lot.”
Some of that is the football. Most of it, by his account, is the other players on the pitch.
“Everyone’s got a different story on how they’ve ended up here, but everyone’s friendly, they’re open. If anyone had problems, they wouldn’t feel afraid to pull me to one side and have a chat with me, and I wouldn’t feel afraid or worried if they were doing that.”
Over 9,000 participants took part in Foundation led projects during the 2025/2026 season, with a hat-trick of goals to improve lives, build community, and reach the margins.
While the aim of the programme is to help local people improve their mental health, Carl has enjoyed meeting some great players during his sessions too.
“There are some very good players here, to be fair,” he said. “But then there’s the likes of me at the other end of the spectrum, so it’s not too bad!”
The measure of what the sessions are worth is how far people go to protect them. Members of the group book their annual leave around it. Carl’s employer lets him finish at midday every Tuesday so he can get to the pitch.
“I work five days a week, but on Tuesdays I’m able to finish at twelve so I can get down here. They know how important it is to me.”
He sees the benefits of the sessions in a wider context, too.
“A lot of people these days are facing mental health crises. Things like this can really help. It can only be a benefit to the community.”
For anyone in the community who is curious about the football sessions with Darlington FC Foundation, Carl has some advice.
“Get yourself down here!” he said. “It’s just two hours of football. Whatever your worries are, you can leave them on the side of the pitch. Everyone’s friendly. You’ll have a good time. It can only help.”
Amazon recently announced a new, wide-ranging programme with Darlington Football Club and Darlington Football Club Foundation designed to strengthen support for communities across the North East.
The programme, which includes a £25,000 donation from Amazon, will grow Darlington FC's existing programmes that support local people through mental health, disability and youth engagement initiatives.
Amazon's partnership with Darlington FC, which runs through 2027, will also see employees from the Amazon fulfilment centre in the town volunteer at a variety of activities and events run by the club and its Foundation for the benefit of the local community.
“Amazon cares deeply about serving the communities where our employees live and work, and our partnership with Darlington Football Club and its Foundation reflects that,” added Jack Docherty, Site Lead at Amazon's Darlington fulfilment centre.
“We've been a proud supporter of the Darlington community since we opened our doors here in 2020, and we're delighted to build on that support through this new partnership with Darlington Football Club.”
The ‘Think With Your Feet’ mental wellness football programme, is one of the core projects being supported by Amazon’s sponsorship of the Darlington FC Foundation this season and now runs on both Tuesday and Friday afternoon at Eastbourne Sports Complex. For more information on all the programmes available visit www.darlingtonfcfoundation.org.uk
