• British Red Cross #UpYourGame campaign encourages footballers to learn life saving first aid skills
• New research reveals footballers would want to help others in a first aid emergency, but would not have the confidence to do so
• 86% of footballers surveyed said they would like to learn first aid or improve their first aid knowledge.

With an estimated 1.9 million people taking part in football at least once a week in England, the British Red Cross is calling on football players, clubs and coaches to learn the essential skills needed to act in an emergency.

The call comes as part of the charity’s #UpYourGame campaign which hopes to encourage an increasingly active British public to learn first aid – and Sport-locker.net are right behind this…

New research revealed by the charity today shows that 89% of footballers think sports people have a responsibility to look after each other, yet almost half (43%) would not have the confidence to help their teammates in a first aid emergency.

The research revealed a significant gap between footballers who have learnt first aid and those who haven’t. Of those who had learnt first aid, 65% reported that they would feel confident and willing to help in a first aid emergency, yet this figure dropped to only 28% when players had not learnt first aid.

The campaign includes a series of videos that celebrate sportspeople helping in a first aid emergency. Launched today, one of these films features a footballer who helps his teammate when he hits his head during a friendly game of football.

14% of those surveyed said they had witnessed at close hand someone who had sustained a head injury while playing football. Despite this, over half (51%) said they would not have the confidence to help someone in this situation.

The British Red Cross is calling on footballers to watch and share the #UpYourGame video and visit www.redcross.org.uk/sportsfirstaid for free first aid advice for footballers.

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