Sport and sporting heroes are being used to tackle the stigma of mental illness.

This month some of those sporting heroes will be in Maryport to talk about mental health and of the often-taboo subject of suicide.

Among them will be Super League referee Ian Smith and former league player Jimmy Gittins whose life was changed forever after an horrific accident in 2002 in which broke his neck in two places.

They are being brought to the town by the charity State of Mind which has come up with a new approach to suicide prevention among men by using rugby league players to encourage greater openness about mental health problems

State of Mind Sport (SOMS) was established in 2010 after the death of Terry Newton, a popular international rugby league player. He took his own life not long after being suspended from the sport for testing positive for banned substances.

SOMS was set up by experienced NHS staff who all had a passion for rugby league. They were keen to prevent similar incidents but were uncertain about how best to make an impact. They were joined by two former team mates of Terry Newton, who had become TV commentators after retiring from playing the game.

Sine then others involved in rugby have given their time and experience to the charity and Maryport will have the chance to hear and speak to some of those people.

The State of Mind event is being held at the Grasslot Social Club in Maryport from 6.45pm on Tuesday, April 23.