World Mental Health Day 2023: Swansea City drop-in centre helping mental health charity

Warning: This article contains references to suicide and mental health issues

In the winter of 2019, former Swansea City academy player Jac Lewis took his own life at the age of 27.

Every Friday, the Championship club host a drop-in mental health centre run by a charity set up in his name.

Lost in his own turmoil, Ammanford AFC player Jac never knew that his death would lead to many lives being saved.

It led to the people of the town and the football club coming together to create an organisation that has transformed access to mental health treatment within their area and further afield.

Anthony Rees, the father of Naomi, who was a one-time long-term girlfriend of Jac's, was hit particularly hard by Lewis' premature death.

"When Jac passed away I thought 'I want to do something here'," said Rees.

"Jac came on many holidays with us, [he was] part of the family, a real character. I was concerned for his wellbeing after the split with my daughter and looked out for him.

"We became bigger friends, I always cared for him and vice versa. It affected all members of our family hugely because he was such a great lad.

"Ammanford Football Club is made up of young men playing sport so I thought 'Why can't we set up something there?'"

As a result Rees went to see Jac's parents, Jesse and Janet Lewis.

"That was a tough call, knocking on the door going to ask them to set up a foundation in Jac's name, very emotional;" he said.

Jac's father Jesse recalled: "Initially I thought it would be too difficult, but two weeks later I phoned Anthony and I said 'It's got to be done, we've got to do something'.

"We decided if we could get a pot of money together, something like £20,000 a year, then anyone could get access to counselling."

The early idea was to offer support services for vulnerable people aged 22 to 32.

They received an instant response from the Amman Valley community, with people raising funds by running marathons, staging concerts and jumping out of aeroplanes.

Jac Lewis' father Jesse at Ammanford AFC who currently play in the second tier of Welsh league football, the JD Cymru South

This led to the opening of their first facility - a single-storey building situated in the corner of Ammanford FC's Recreation Ground to be used as a drop-in centre.

"We had a direct link with the football club so we set up a nice, quiet corner for people to come in during the week. If you had dark feelings or felt a bit lousy you could come in and have a chat," said Rees.

"All the work that has gone on here hasn't cost us a penny - from the air conditioning to the kitchens, hanging the doors, the plumbing, the electrics - kind of DIY SOS style," added Lewis.

"Without all those builders, without those people coming on board, we wouldn't have got to where we are now."

Liz Thomas-Evans is director of services at the Jac Lewis Foundation. She says talking about the project gives her "goosebumps", adding: "We've been extremely lucky with the support we've had from the community."

The establishment of the centre has identified a key issue for those seeking treatment for their mental health.

"Across Wales and throughout the UK, there are long waiting times to access counselling through GP surgeries via the NHS," said Thomas-Evans.

"You would be looking at up to two years to be able to see someone.

"If somebody is struggling, they need help immediately and if people don't get that, mental health can deteriorate quickly and they are more vulnerable to suicide.

"We wanted to reduce that wait time within our local community and we're now linked into the GP surgeries within our area so that we can provide immediate support."

Jac Lewis spent nine years in the Swansea City academy

His passion was always football

Unfortunately, the journey to Jac's death was far from unusual.

Jac started playing football at the age of five and went on to join Swansea City's academy, eventually being released aged 14. He joined Llanelli for a while before returning to hometown club Ammanford.

"His passion was always football, he always wanted to play at the highest level," his father said.

"I made him have a trade (he was a carpenter) and it kept him in money, it gave him a reason to get up in the morning and go to work.

"But I just think he felt a little bit of a failure because he didn't achieve what he wanted to in football."

There were other issues at play, though. Jac gave up playing regular football and weekends became a time for recreational drug use.

"On a couple of occasions, we found sachets of drugs of some description, I don't know what. He wasn't a prolific user by any stretch, but I think chemical abuse was a big influencer on it," added Lewis.

"I think he lost control of himself once he went down the road of using drugs socially with his friends.

"If he'd come back elated, in a really, really good mood, the next day he'd always be low. It was always the higher the high, the lower the low.

"I remember the last day.

"I dropped him off to meet his mate in Swansea and I can see him now walking down the High Street and he was practically skipping. It was like he was on an emotional high, he knew he was going to have a good time.

"I can remember thinking, 'tomorrow is going to be hell, it's going to be a struggle to get him out of bed'.

"The next day was his last."

The Swansea.com Stadium has been the home of Swansea City since 2005 and was renamed in 2021

The Swansea City drop-in hub

The expansion of the service the foundation offers has included a collaboration with Swansea City, who have provided space at their stadium to hold a drop-in centre every Friday morning.

Thomas-Evans said: "For us, having that affiliation with football is fantastic to reduce that stigma of males coming into the service.

"We've seen that has really improved how many males are coming through."

What soon became clear at the Swansea.com Stadium was that many of the clients simply needed advice in areas of their lives that they had found unmanageable.

"People were coming in with more practical issues, finance issues, housing, things that were stressful for them," explained Thomas-Evans.

"So, we changed the Swansea hub to accommodate other organisations that sit with us. Not only can people walk in and get their mental health support, they can also get straight, easy access to other organisations such as the Citizen's Advice Bureau.

"We have a legal team, we have access to education training and employment, housing advice - a wide variety of people that can help."

Since its creation, the charity has provided direct help to more than 3,000 people and has 65 counsellors working for it.

Thomas-Evans said: "Our passion is to help as many people as we possibly can with the funding that we can get.

"Our referrals are growing every month. Over the last few years, we've increased quite dramatically, there's such a need out there.

"Our clients range from the youngest being three years old up to the oldest who has been 87.

"It's from all walks of life from all different parts of the community."

'Without doubt we've saved lives'

When Lewis talks about the charity's work, he is seemingly transported back to that day in 2019 when Jac took his life.

The stream of grief that trickles through him can, in an instant, become a river of struggle.

When offered the chance to take a break, Lewis declines.

"What I do with the charity is very difficult. You can rest assured I would not be doing it if I didn't think it made a difference. I do it because I have to," he said.

"This is not down to me. This is not down to Anthony Rees. Between us we may have started it off, but it's down to the community because without everyone else coming on board this wouldn't have been achievable.

"But, without doubt, we've saved lives."

If you have been affected by any of the issues in this article, you can find details of organisations that can help via the BBC Action Line.