It is 14 years to the day since Gary Speed left us.
On Saturday, the club will unveil a Gary Speed Memorial Bench at Hill Dickinson Stadium on the Budweiser Fan Plaza with moving words: “IN MEMORY OF GARY SPEED, EVERTONIAN, CAPTAIN, LEADER 1969–2011. A place for what is often unspoken. A place to sit, share and listen.”
It is a talking bench with directions to mental health support services. Trained community staff will be there around the bench. A QR code gives direct access to EitC’s mental health programmes, that include the first mental health and wellbeing hub created by a Premier League club when it opened in March 2023.
Talking benches are intended to foster conversation, somewhere for people to pause, talk, sit, think, and learn about support.
Gary’s family will be there on Saturday.
I believe that this was the idea of the Everton Fans’ Forum. It’s wonderful that it is both a memorial and a resource for anyone who shares Gary’s pain today.