Swansea City goalkeeper Chelsea Herbert swapped gloves for controllers recently as she took part in a 15-hour fundraising gaming stream.
It was all in aid of the mental health charity Mind – and although 15 hours might sound like a marathon, for the 23-year-old it was a great time to indulge in one of her favourite hobbies alongside some of her friends.
“I love gaming and streaming so I jumped at the opportunity,” she says, adding that she often takes her Nintendo Switch on long away trips with the Swans.
Although she has done charity streams before, this was the first time she had done an event for Mind.
“Mental health is a big problem,” she says. “I’m a PCSO (police community support officer) so I come across a lot of people who suffer with mental health and it’s not nice to see people struggling with something they just can’t fix themselves – they need support. It’s nice to be able to do something and hopefully impact a few lives.”
And she was really grateful for the support she got from the football community.
“It was fun, and I had my friends helping me through, my team-mates, and the club was really supportive as well, popping in little messages from time to time,” she says.
“It was special, a great feeling, overwhelming but in a really good way. Obviously I was happy with smashing my target of £300 – I didn’t expect to have so much support from everyone, including our fans. I hope I’ve made a difference.”
