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Dozens of GP surgeries in Gloucestershire are taking part in a scheme to help get people off antidepressants and improve their mental health by prescribing them football matches.

The initiative, known as Football on Prescription, is part of a wider programme of social prescribing which aims to tackle isolation and loneliness by offering patients in Stroud free tickets to watch National League club Forest Green Rovers this season.

The scheme is the brainchild of British green energy industrialist Dale Vince, who owns Forest Green Rovers, and the Labour MP and GP Simon Opher, who has publicly aired his concerns about the overprescribing of antidepressants and the benefits of social activities such as comedy and gardening for people with mild or moderate depression.

As part of the scheme, GPs will provide patients with Football on Prescription cards giving them access to match tickets and allowing them to sign up for walking football or local five-a-side sessions.

The scheme is being run in partnership with Forest Green Rovers and Stroud Walking Football.

“Research shows that physical activity improves mental and physical health,” said Opher, who pioneered social prescribing in Gloucestershire over 20 years ago by using artists in his surgery and developing the Artlift programme, which uses creative arts to improve mental health.

“We also know that social isolation plays a major role in poor mental health and that community, connection and shared experiences can help people feel less alone. This initiative brings those two ideas together. It’s a form of social prescription with football as the medicine.”

Vince said Football on Prescription is aimed at everyone struggling with mental health problems “but especially men who are statistically the hardest to reach”.

“The leading cause of death in men under 50 is now suicide and loneliness is often a key factor,” he said. “If a Saturday afternoon at a football match can help someone feel more connected and less alone, then that’s a powerful first step.”