Players and fans to activate Hugby ahead of Dublin match to kick off new mental health awareness campaign.
Monday 16th June – Rugby’s leading mental health charity, LooseHeadz, has gained the support of the British & Irish Lions to launch their new campaign, Hugby, at Aviva Stadium on Friday 20th June ahead of kick-off for the first game of the Lions 2025 tour.
Much like footballers taking the knee before kick-off in a stand against racism, Hugby will encourage players, fans and all inside the Aviva Stadium to hug one another, providing a watershed moment for tackling the stigma of mental health in rugby. The first ever Hugby moment will take place immediately after Argentina’s national anthem on Friday night.
Leading rugby commentator Nick Mullins is also behind the initiative, providing the voiceover for the campaign video that launches today and will be played out during the Hugby moment in the Aviva Stadium. The campaign’s tagline, highlighted at the close of the video, is to ‘HUG A MATE AND DONATE.’
Rugby fans, players and content creators on social media are also being encouraged to spread the word and drive donations by following these simple steps:
- HUG A MATE – post a video on their social media platforms of the hug
- DONATE – to LooseHeadz
- NOMINATE – a friend.
Rob Shotton, co-founder of LooseHeadz, said: “Hugby is built around one simple thing: a hug. It’s all about supporting the rugby community and their mental health; nothing flashy, just a small moment that says, “we’ve got each other,” it’s as simple as that.
“Hugging is already synonymous with rugby. You see it before the matches, on the pitch, and at the final whistle. We’re blown away by the support we’re so grateful that The British & Irish Lions are allowing us to activate on the biggest stage!”
Ben Calveley, CEO of The British & Irish Lions, said: “This latest LooseHeadz initiative is something that we are delighted to support before our game against Argentina on Friday night.
“Whilst on Tour it is key that our whole squad stay connected and check in with each other – and those simple principles also extended to our fans and everyone at home, too.”
You can donate to LooseHeadz as part of the Hugby campaign at LooseHeadz.co.uk/Hugby or text Hugby to 70970.
LooseHeadz is a charity with a singular mission of saving lives by placing a mental health lead at every rugby club around the world, providing them with a toolkit of free resources to support the mental fitness of players, coaches and fans. LooseHeadz are supported by over 50 ambassadors from the game’s top flight, the RFU, WRU, SRU, Premiership Rugby, URC and MLR. In 2024, LooseHeadz was announced as one of the official charity partners of the British & Irish Lions Trust.