UK Prime Minister congratulates FIFPRO Player Voice Award winner

• British Prime Minister Keir Starmer sent a letter of recognition to FIFPRO Player Voice Award winner Will Vaulks for his inspiring work on suicide prevention
• Oxford United and Wales midfielder Vaulks won the FIFPRO Player Voice Award in November 2025 for his off-pitch endeavours
• "Your dedicated hard work on suicide prevention and mental health awareness is incredibly admirable and this recognition is thoroughly deserved," the UK Prime Minister wrote

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer sent a letter of congratulations to FIFPRO Player Voice Award winner Will Vaulks on Tuesday.

Wales international Vaulks was recognised in November 2025 with the FIFPRO Player Voice Award, one of three FIFPRO Merit Awards, for his inspiring work on suicide prevention.

Vaulks lost both of his grandfathers to suicide, just a year apart from each other. In 2022 he became an ambassador for Baton of Hope, the UK’s largest suicide-awareness initiative, using his own experiences to encourage meaningful discourse around both mental health and bereavement.

Vaulks also helped launch the Can We Talk? campaign with Oxford United in 2024 and has earned PFA Community Awards at three different clubs for his commitment to supporting others.

The UK Prime Minister stated in the letter: “I am writing to congratulate you on the fantastic achievement of being awarded the FIFPRO Player Voice Award for 2025.

"Your dedicated hard work on suicide prevention and mental health awareness at Oxford United is incredibly admirable and this recognition is thoroughly deserved. 

"I understand you have a personal connection to this cause, having lost both of your grandfathers – I have no doubt that your family, as well as your club and all your loved ones, feel deep pride in the way you have turned such a painful experienced into a force for good."

Writing in an op-ed for FIFPRO.org in November, Vaulks described how his grieving process drove him to raise awareness of suicide prevention.

Vaulks said: "As a footballer in the public eye, I feel both the responsibility and the opportunity to reach as many people as possible. I don't want families to go through what my family had been through, and that grieving process has been what drives my passion to raise the awareness needed to bring suicide numbers down.

"That’s why being recognised with the FIFPRO Player Voice Award means so much to me. My family and I feel so proud to have our work recognised by such a global organisation because it shows just how far our voice has travelled. It gives us a speakerphone to be heard even louder, and it motivates me to keep fighting for change."