Bedfordshire County Golf Ltd has been named the winner of the Respect in Golf Award, sponsored by 54, at the 2026 England Golf Awards - recognising its pioneering leadership in bringing mental health awareness and support into the heart of the golfing community.
The county’s journey began with a powerful and personal question: “What is being done to support mental health for golfers in England?” For one volunteer, this was rooted in lived experience following the loss of his son in 2016 and his own struggle with severe anxiety.
The challenge of accessing timely support highlighted a wider issue — one that golf, with its strong social networks, was uniquely placed to help address.
Working alongside fellow golfers Graham Freer, Dave McGarry and Steve Whitney, and in partnership with England Golf, Bedfordshire helped develop Fore Your Mind, a dedicated mental health awareness initiative for golf. Piloted and officially launched in Bedfordshire in November 2024, the programme has already delivered remarkable impact.
A cornerstone of the initiative is Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) Training, a two‑day accredited course equipping volunteers to recognise signs of poor mental health, start supportive conversations and signpost individuals to appropriate help.
In its first year, 90% of Bedfordshire clubs gained a trained MHFA Champion, and more than 150 individuals have already been supported.
With 17 counties now expressing interest and funding available through iGolf grants, the programme is expanding nationally — guided by Bedfordshire’s volunteers through seminars and shared expertise.
David Hawkins, Former Secretary & CEO at Bedfordshire Golf, said: “We raised a working party of five people and pulled together our own life experiences. Dave McGarry, who lost his wife to cancer, Ang, when she was just 50. Steve Whitney, who lost his son, Will, who committed suicide. Myself, I lost my son 10 years ago who died overnight. He was 27. And six years later, I developed deep anxiety. And when we're out there on the golf course, it's the perfect place for us to talk. Men don't talk, but now we're going to train them to talk.
“The project started 18 months ago to train a Mental Health First Aider at every single golf club in Bedford and we succeeded in doing that. The Mental Health First Aider is not a practitioner. It is not a physician or a clinical person. The Mental Health First Aider is actually a guide. It's somebody who understands the issues and the problems that people may come and talk to them about. They become a figurehead, somebody who's trusted within the golf club and somebody that you can turn to and say, "I'm struggling. I need help. Yeah, I'm feeling pretty poor. Where can I go and get help?" And the Mental Health First Aider is trained then to actually take them to a place where they can receive that help."
Using the database that the CST provide us through the Mental Health First Aid programme, we can identify the needs or the resources that are needed by that person to actually get the help that they need to help them through the next stages of their life.
“My proudest achievement is the fact that we now have almost 50% of the counties in England who have taken up the programme. Myself, Steve Whitney, Dave McGarry, Graham Freer, we give our time freely and any county that wants help, needs guidance, wants to ascertain where they can get the detail from today, wants to understand how they can get the funding from England Golf, we're here to help them and helping people is what we're about.
“I want to be able to say every single one of the golfers in England can actually access help for their mental health problems.
“This accolade is not for the team that's actually produced the results so far. This is about the opportunity to spread the word even wider. Tonight, we gave everybody in the room a badge. It's the opportunity to make people aware that mental health is a real problem. And if we can stop one person from committing suicide, we will have succeeded.”
At its core, Fore Your Mind reinforces a simple message: golf can be a place where people look out for one another. Bedfordshire County Golf Ltd has led this cultural shift, helping to build a more supportive, respectful and connected game for all.
The challenge of accessing timely support highlighted a wider issue — one that golf, with its strong social networks, was uniquely placed to help address.
Working alongside fellow golfers Graham Freer, Dave McGarry and Steve Whitney, and in partnership with England Golf, Bedfordshire helped develop Fore Your Mind, a dedicated mental health awareness initiative for golf. Piloted and officially launched in Bedfordshire in November 2024, the programme has already delivered remarkable impact.
A cornerstone of the initiative is Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) Training, a two‑day accredited course equipping volunteers to recognise signs of poor mental health, start supportive conversations and signpost individuals to appropriate help.
In its first year, 90% of Bedfordshire clubs gained a trained MHFA Champion, and more than 150 individuals have already been supported.
With 17 counties now expressing interest and funding available through iGolf grants, the programme is expanding nationally — guided by Bedfordshire’s volunteers through seminars and shared expertise.
David Hawkins, Former Secretary & CEO at Bedfordshire Golf, said: “We raised a working party of five people and pulled together our own life experiences. Dave McGarry, who lost his wife to cancer, Ang, when she was just 50. Steve Whitney, who lost his son, Will, who committed suicide. Myself, I lost my son 10 years ago who died overnight. He was 27. And six years later, I developed deep anxiety. And when we're out there on the golf course, it's the perfect place for us to talk. Men don't talk, but now we're going to train them to talk.
“The project started 18 months ago to train a Mental Health First Aider at every single golf club in Bedford and we succeeded in doing that. The Mental Health First Aider is not a practitioner. It is not a physician or a clinical person. The Mental Health First Aider is actually a guide. It's somebody who understands the issues and the problems that people may come and talk to them about. They become a figurehead, somebody who's trusted within the golf club and somebody that you can turn to and say, "I'm struggling. I need help. Yeah, I'm feeling pretty poor. Where can I go and get help?" And the Mental Health First Aider is trained then to actually take them to a place where they can receive that help."
Using the database that the CST provide us through the Mental Health First Aid programme, we can identify the needs or the resources that are needed by that person to actually get the help that they need to help them through the next stages of their life.
“My proudest achievement is the fact that we now have almost 50% of the counties in England who have taken up the programme. Myself, Steve Whitney, Dave McGarry, Graham Freer, we give our time freely and any county that wants help, needs guidance, wants to ascertain where they can get the detail from today, wants to understand how they can get the funding from England Golf, we're here to help them and helping people is what we're about.
“I want to be able to say every single one of the golfers in England can actually access help for their mental health problems.
“This accolade is not for the team that's actually produced the results so far. This is about the opportunity to spread the word even wider. Tonight, we gave everybody in the room a badge. It's the opportunity to make people aware that mental health is a real problem. And if we can stop one person from committing suicide, we will have succeeded.”
At its core, Fore Your Mind reinforces a simple message: golf can be a place where people look out for one another. Bedfordshire County Golf Ltd has led this cultural shift, helping to build a more supportive, respectful and connected game for all.
ENDS
Contact details:
Tom Vale, Press & Media Manager
Tel: 07912 240850
Email: tom.vale@englandgolf.org
www.englandgolf.org
Contact details:
Tom Vale, Press & Media Manager
Tel: 07912 240850
Email: tom.vale@englandgolf.org
www.englandgolf.org