Paul Golder writes for the Brentwood Gazette

We’ve always featured a lot of grass roots sport on our weekly schedule – it’s such a vital part of our community and really helps to bring people together.

And no one is too old or “too unfit” to take part now we have an extensive walking football network in our local teams.

Stuart Short, who volunteers for Basildon Mind, came in to talk about the group’s second annual walking football tournament, which was hosted by Billericay Town FC.

Stuart was joined in the studio by Bill Sedgwick, Head Coach of Billericay Town Walking football Groups. Bill talked about – and busted – some of the myths of what people think walking football is about.

Bill said that you go onto the pitch smiling and and come off the pitch smiling, having fun, playing football, and getting the same enjoyment in your 50s, 60s or 70s as you did when you were in your teens.

The event itself had 13 teams from Essex and Kent – each with a squad of 9 – taking part. It was a mixed event with women over 40 and men over 50 taking part.

Raising money for Mind is such a good fit – it’s well known that keeping active can really help in the battle against poor mental health. We don’t always have time to go out and be active, but we should – and this is a great opportunity for football lovers who may be approaching their senior years.

You can find out more about the work that Stuart and Bill do by listening to the interview again at phoenixfm.com.