Imran Majid (left), pictured with fellow coaches Aasim Aziz & Waqas KHAN
During Mental Health Awareness Week 2022, we are catching up with Imran Majid. Imran is an experienced WCB Community Coach, a Mental Health First Aider and also a fully qualified Mental Health First Aid Instructor. In our Q&A session, Imran talks in detail about cricket coaching and his work in mental health around the Bordesley Green and Washwood Heath areas of Birmingham – all on top of a demanding job as a Product Coach at Jaguar Land Rover.
Can you give us an overview of your cricket coaching work?
I coach alongside my fellow Community Coach, Aasim Aziz, in Bordesley Green and Washwood Heath. We run Chance to Shine Street projects for children aged 8 – 15. In the summer, we coach outdoors in Ward End Park and our numbers are generally high. We have over 50 children registered, of whom at least a dozen are girls. This is an inner city area and faces the same challenges as other inner city areas. Our aim is to get children involved in sport and help to keep them out of trouble.
During the winter, we coach indoors and have experienced a few venue issues since the pandemic started. Despite all the challenges, during the first lockdown our Street project was one of the few projects that kept going - by moving online. We continued our sessions on Zoom to keep our participants active and keep challenging them. There were guest appearances from cricketers like Kabir Ali and quizzes in break out rooms where the participants could win sports vouchers. It all encouraged participants to keep engaged with us during the lockdown. We made a real effort to ask children how they were doing and encourage them to open up about their mental health in a way they maybe wouldn’t have done with a teacher or a friend.
On the subject of mental health, it’s Mental Health Awareness Week so can you tell us more about your own journey in helping young people with their mental health?
Mental health is a subject that has always been important to me. I have coached cricket and football in my community for over 20 years and it has made me realise the importance of good mental health alongside physical health – even before the pandemic. In 2017 I completed my Mental Health First Aid course. I then decided a couple of years later to enrol on the MHFA instructors’ course. On the second day of the course, sadly, in 2020 we went into the first lockdown. Fortunately, I was able to resume and complete the course online in 2021 and I am now a qualified Mental Health Instructor.
Mental Health First Aid offers expert guidance and training to support mental health in the workplace and beyond, with an unshakeable belief we can all talk freely about mental health and seek support when we need it. Together we will create a society where everyone’s mental health matters.
WCB Communities Manager Eaton Gordon secured valuable funding from Chance to Shine so that I was able to train my fellow WCB Community Coaches to become Mental Health First Aid trainers. All in all, I have trained over 30 people. I have even designed a bespoke mental health training course that’s being piloted for an organisation called Beyond Sport. It’s very important that we have access to these resources in our community to help children become more resilient.
You’ve shown some great resilience yourself recently, running a marathon during Ramadan. Tell us more about that?
I had been doing 10k runs, fundraising for charity, since 2016 but decided to challenge myself to run a marathon this year. Having entered the Manchester marathon, it then came about that it fell on the first day of Ramadan at the start of April. I was still determined to complete the marathon as I had undertaken to raise money for four different charities, two in the UK and others in Afghanistan and Malawi.
When I started my serious training in January, I practised completing my runs without taking on water or food. I got used to it but then my shifts changed, and I missed a lot of training. So, I wasn’t in the best position when the race came along as I hadn’t run more than 16 miles in training. I completed the first half of the marathon in 1 hour 45 minutes, but then hit the wall at 16 miles and the last 8 miles were a real struggle.
I had to be resilient to keep going, but I was helped by all the amazing people in Manchester cheering me on, shouting “Come on, Imran” as my name was written on my number. It was a great experience: there were even children holding out those big foam hands saying, “Touch me for extra power.” The crowd helped me going, but so did all the people at home who were messaging me and donating money as I was running. After every mile I took a photo and posted an update on social media. It went a bit viral and there were people following the run who I hadn’t heard from for months.
The whole experience was a very positive one. In the end my time was 4 hours and 31 minutes; longer than I wanted but the main thing was that I finished. After that, the rest of Ramadan was less strenuous. At the end of Ramadan recently, though, I was part of a team of WCB coaches who delivered a community cricket session on Eid at Edgbaston. It was a great day, attended by almost 120 children (84 boys and 35 girls) and their families, with all the participants receiving a plastic bat so they can continue to enjoy playing cricket.
What’s your main motivation to do all that you do, on top of your main job?
My motivation has always been to give the children something to do that would keep them off the streets and away from trouble. I am passionate about my community and helping the young people in it. As well as cricket coaching, I also coach football as a volunteer at Saltley Wellbeing Centre on Sunday mornings for children from all parts of the community. In fact, my coaching career started in football and then expanded into cricket 12 years ago. I always want to keep learning. Since moving into cricket coaching, I have taken my Level 1 and 2 coaching qualifications, as well as the mental health qualifications. I have children of my own and I understand the importance of helping young people in my own community and beyond.
Imran Majid has made a huge commitment over many years towards improving the lives of young people in his community. In addition to a busy work and family life, he has invested in a number of valuable coaching and mental health qualifications. In turn, Imran has invested this knowledge and experience back into his community. Running marathons as well, Imran’s energy seems limitless. Keep going Imran, you’re amazing!
Mental Health Awareness Week runs from 9th – 15th May 2022. The theme for 2022 is loneliness. The WCB’s cricket programmes provide the opportunity for people of all ages to build friendships and contribute positively to overall wellbeing.
If you are interested in gaining a qualification as a Mental Health First Aider, Imran can be contacted via Mina Zahoor, WCB Community Engagement Officer, [email protected]
