Oxford United's Will Vaulks Champions Vulnerability Over Toxic Masculinity
Oxford United and Wales midfielder Will Vaulks has emerged as an award-winning campaigner for mental wellbeing and suicide prevention, driven by personal tragedy. In an exclusive interview, he reveals how the deaths of both grandfathers by suicide inspired his mission to save lives.
Family Tragedy Fuels Advocacy Mission
Will Vaulks was thirteen when his paternal grandfather, Tom, took his own life. Less than eighteen months later at age fourteen, his maternal grandfather, Hywel, died in the same devastating manner. "It was like a bomb goes off in your family," Vaulks describes the dual loss. "One was shocking enough and then to have another one... yeah."
He remembers Granddad Tom as "Jack the lad" who rode a red Kawasaki 500 motorbike and created fun chaos when parents were away. Grandad Hywel was "really gentle, kind, loving" in a traditional grandparent home filled with baked apple crumble aromas. The contrasting personalities made their losses particularly complex.
"You are left with questions for the rest of your life," Vaulks reflects. "It's a really, really complex grief that goes on for a long time." The aftermath saw his mother suffer severe anxiety attacks requiring ambulance calls, while his grandmother experienced a mental breakdown requiring sectioning and lifelong care.
Football Provides Escape and Platform
Angry at the world, Vaulks found refuge in football through Tranmere Rovers' academy. Training three days weekly and obsessive evening running provided what he now recognises as mindfulness. This painful family experience inspired him to leverage his football platform for mental health advocacy.
Vaulks serves as ambassador for suicide-prevention charity Baton of Hope, visiting schools for suicide awareness talks with sixth formers. His work fronting Oxford United's 'Can We Talk?' campaign earned him a FifPro award and €10,000 prize money dedicated to his cause.
"I wanted that money to go back into the Oxfordshire community," he explains, funding suicide prevention training for 150 attendees at a recent Kassam Stadium workshop. "To have something tangible that we can look back on and be proud of."
Confronting Suicide Statistics and Stigma
Suicide remains the leading cause of death for British men under 45 and women under 35. Vaulks encounters affected individuals everywhere he goes. "If I was hearing about this many car crashes, we'd be like, 'We've got to do something about the roads'," he argues. "So we have to be doing something about suicide."
He advocates for every professional football club adopting Baton of Hope's workplace pledge, committing to reduce stigma and educate staff about psychological safety. His ultimate goal is direct prevention: "If it stops one person taking their own life, and one family does not have to go through the anguish and grief that mine's been through, then every bit of this work is worth it."
Vulnerability as True Strength
Vaulks emphasises that suicide is preventable through open conversation. His "Be nice, ask twice" approach encourages deeper engagement beyond superficial greetings. "Instead of just going, 'You alright, yeah? Good,' and then moving on, it's like, 'No, really, how are you, what's going on?'"
He criticises toxic masculinity exemplified in Netflix's Manosphere documentary by Louis Theroux. "Showing true strength is being vulnerable," Vaulks asserts. "Being vulnerable is really hard. I don't particularly want to stand on stage tonight in front of 150 people and tell my personal story, but I know that by doing that and showing vulnerability, there'll be people in the room that think, 'You know what, I'm going to show that I'm vulnerable and I'm struggling'."
Oxford United's Poignant Connection
Tragically, Oxford United proved well-aligned for Vaulks' campaign. Club legend Joey Beauchamp died by suicide in 2023, around the same time young Oxford fan and non-league footballer Jack Badger also took his own life. The club has won awards alongside Baton of Hope and the Joey Beauchamp Foundation.
"I'm really grateful to the club for supporting me," Vaulks acknowledges. "I want more football clubs to support me, because at the end of the day, it will save lives. We have proof of that."
Healing Through Advocacy
An unintended benefit of Vaulks' campaigning has been personal healing. Childhood anger has dissipated, replaced by frank conversations with friends and family. "We now and then talk about it at Christmas and things," he shares. "You have to come to a point as a family where you think, that was a really hard time and now we remember them with fondness."
This healing represents part of Grandad Tom and Grandad Hywel's legacy. "Now it's about how I can use my life to help others, because then my grandads potentially ended up saving lives."
Vaulks hopes his children will feel empowered to speak up and ask for help, believing his grandfathers might have enjoyed longer lives and family happiness had they felt safe enough to express vulnerability. His message remains clear: true strength emerges not from toxic masculinity but from courageous vulnerability that can literally save lives.
