Why Sport Works: Community as a Mental Health Intervention with Steve Kerslake
In this powerful episode of Build & Thrive, Jennie Armstrong sits down with Steve Kerslake, founder of Construction Sport and long-time construction worker turned mental health campaigner.
Recorded inside the Construction Sport studio, this is an honest, unfiltered conversation about trauma, pressure, suicide, sport, leadership and why the industry must go beyond awareness and into accountability.
Steve shares his deeply personal journey - from surviving a violent attack early in his career, to navigating serious health challenges, to founding a charity that’s now influencing national conversations around mental health and workplace legislation.
But this isn’t just about raising awareness.
It’s about asking harder questions.
In this episode, we cover:
- How a charity walk across Crossrail sparked the birth of Construction Sport
- Why community - not just sport - is the real intervention
- The hidden cost of long hours, pressure and financial instability in construction
- Why many mental health initiatives fail on site
- The case for making suicide reportable under RIDDOR
- What accountability could mean for the future of workplace mental health
- How trauma shows up physically and why “the body keeps the score”
- What real success looks like for the next five years
If you work in construction - whether on site, in leadership, in safety, HR, or policy - this conversation matters.
🎧 https://www.buzzsprout.com/2431164 (or search your podcast app)
📺 https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLEoibJLDuFnnT3qSQw37LKPG6xlyvCj7B
🔹 Thank you to our sponsor, GKR Scaffolding, for supporting this series and helping us share our mission of improving health and wellbeing in construction.
Plan, Do, Check, Act - Assess your systematic approach to Psychosocial Hazard Management with 12 quick questions: https://psychsafety.scoreapp.com
Episode Links:
Jennie Armstrong: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jenniearmstrong/
Construction Health & Wellbeing: https://constructionhealth.co.uk/
Steve Kerslake:
Construction Sport Contracts Ltd:
- Website: https://www.constructionsport.com/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/constructionsport
- Instagramhttps://www.instagram.com/constructionsport/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/constructionsportcontracts/
- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ConSpoTV
GKR Scaffolding (sponsor): https://gkrscaffolding.co.uk/
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