Draft:You Are Not Alone (Norwich City Mental Health Film)

"You Are Not Alone" is a 2023 film and internet viral video produced by Norwich City F.C. aimed at raising awareness of mental health, specifically focusing on the issue of suicide. Released on October 10, 2023, in conjunction with World Mental Health Day, the 2-minute 27-second video garnered immense popularity, amassing over 60 million views on the club's social media channels alone, as of November 2023; making it the most-viewed social media post in the club’s history.

The film, which was released on YouTube, X, and Facebook, quickly gained viral status, earning praise for its poignant and accurate portrayal of mental health issues. SB Nation dubbed it "the most powerful video a sports team has ever released on the topic" and radio presenter Roman Kemp, a prominent mental health advocate, lauded it as the best he had ever seen, thanking the club for the fantastic way they had “conveyed the truth so beautifully”.

Devised and produced in-house by Norwich City F.C., the club collaborated with the UK suicide prevention charity Samaritans to ensure the video's language and tone were appropriate. The collaboration aimed to maintain sensitivity to the subject matter throughout the production.

In response to the overwhelmingly positive reception, Norwich City F.C. made the original video file freely available on November 1, 2023, to individuals and organizations, including governments, emergency services, charities, businesses, schools, and places of worship. This generous gesture was endorsed by leading mental health charities, including Samaritans, Mind, Shout, CALM, and Heads Together, a faction of the Royal Foundation.

Plot
The film shows a glimpse into the lives of two Norwich City F.C. fans, adorned in the team's green and yellow jerseys, as they engage in the highs and lows of a full football season. One fan, portrayed by Martin Kray, is reserved and slightly despondent, while the other, played by Marston York, is upbeat and extroverted. Throughout the film, their reactions to goals, missed chances, and chants highlight that the quieter fan is struggling and is experiencing increasing disengagement with his surroundings. Dialogue between the characters, notably the extroverted characters inquiries about the reserved man's well-being, underscore the struggles of the latter with his mental health. The film takes a powerful turn when, during a goal celebration, the extroverted fan wraps his club bar scarf around his quieter friend, symbolizing support and solidarity. After the celebration has subsided the quieter fan goes to give the scarf back before being stopped by the extroverted fan saying, “Nah you keep it mate”, a gesture of kindness the quieter man accepts.

The conclusion features a poignant message, "At times, it can be obvious when someone is struggling to cope,". A message that viewers attribute to the quieter fan who has visibly been struggling throughout the video, however in a final twist, the quieter fan returns to shot with the bar scarf of his friend and places it onto his empty seat with the text “But sometimes, the signs are harder to spot” signifying that the character who audiences weren't concern for had in fact died by suicide. The final screen shows the hashtag #YouAreNotAlone with the scarf on an empty seat, accompanied by signposts to the Samaritans' suicide helpline and the UK NHS.

Reception
Beyond its social media virality, the film gained attention from notable figures

such as the Prince of Wales and Princess of Wales, Roman Kemp, Beth Mead, Frankie Dettori, Jake Humphrey, Dimitris Giannoulis, JaackMate, and Vivianne Miedema. Leading UK mental health charities collectively praised the film, emphasizing its potential to reduce the stigma surrounding suicide. Stephen Fry, who is famously a Norwich City supporter and President of mental health charity Mind said “This is a stunningly powerful thing to watch” before encouraging people that no matter how you might feel you are not alone.

Media coverage extended to Sky Sports News, ITV, BBC News, Radio 5Live, and international channels like Canal de la Ciudad in Argentina. Reaction videos on social media platform TikTok added another layer of engagement, with accounts such as @dadrespect amassing over 17 million views.

It was shared on Famous Campaigns, a reputable marketing campaign page on LinkedIn, the day of its release whilst Grace Andrews, Marketing Director for the Diary of a CEO podcast posted “Can't remember the last time a campaign hit me in my core like this one” in response to the video.

UEFA, the governing body for European football hailed the film on social media.

Production
The #YouAreNotAlone video's concept was developed by the club’s Marketing Manager, Daniel Williams, and produced additionally by the club's Head of Marketing, Gavin Beard, and Videographer, Tom Liquorish-Smith. All extras in the film were club staff who volunteered their time outside of work. The campaign, executed entirely in-house, allowed for full creative control however the team consulting closely with Samaritans to ensure the video's treatment of the subject matter was responsible. Visual prompts and performance cues were crafted by the production team and were signed off by the charity to keep expert levels if accuracy. Local performers to the Norwich area, Marston York, and Martin Kray, portrayed the two main characters.

Wider Campaign
In addition to the video launch, Norwich City F.C. enacted other initiatives to raise awareness for World Mental Health Day. During their EFL Championship fixture against Coventry City on October 7th 2023, the club wore an alternate home shirt. Sponsors Lotus, Turismo de Gran Canaria, and Sekura.id donated their sponsorship space to Samaritans resulting in a limited-edition shirt takeover. The Samaritans shirt was also shown on Gillette Soccer Saturday by presenter Simon Thomas, who is also a Norwich City F.C. fan. The shirts were signed by the playing squad and auctioned off, with proceeds donated to Samaritans.

The club also expanded on their 2022 campaign activation, creating a fictional line-ups graphic with statistics on the number of people who die by suicide. A statistic of 125 people per week. This innovative concept involved the line-up graphic that teams post before a fixture, notifying fans of team selection, altered to show the names of family members, friends of close relations encouraging fans to ‘check in on those around them’. The initiative led by Norwich City was then adopted by all EFL Championship teams for that matchday weekend, gaining over 3.3 million impressions combined.

The wider campaign was greeted with more positive feedback with people respectful of the clubs geneuine care on the matter and that the campaign was not simple a PR stunt. In addition to the line-up, shirt takeover and video the club have also produced other meaningful mental health campaigns to the community as well as a full mental health resource bank on the official website.

The average age and demographic of Norwich City season ticket holders is 49-year-old males which correlates with the demographic most likely to die by suicide in the UK. . This was stated as a key statistic that made the club feel that intervention and awareness

The Norwich City Women F.C. team also wore Samaritans warm-up tops ahead of their away fixture vs. QPR on 8th October 2023.