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TA L K
ALINE COQUELLE, NACHO CORBALAN
A M A T C H M A D E I N H E A V E N
‘I accompanied my husband George on
a polo tour in Ghana, and he suggested I give
stick-and-balling a try,’ reminisces Clare
Milford Haven. ‘I thought he was being
ridiculous, but I got on the horse and ended
up riding flat-out for an hour. I couldn’t walk
for four days afterwards, but that was it –
I knew I had found my sport.’ Twenty-two
years and countless trophies later, Milford
Haven can still be seen speeding down polo
fields around the world. ‘It’s been an
amazingly positive thing in my life. It has
opened up my eyes to the world around me
– I’ve played in 25 different countries and it
has just been incredible.’
While polo has formed a major part of
her life, Milford Haven has spent the past
decade campaigning to raise awareness of
anxiety, depression and suicide in young
people. After her son James took his own life
in 2006, aged 21, Milford Haven discovered
that suicide is the leading cause of death
among young men in the UK. She founded
the James Wentworth-Stanley Memorial
Fund in his honour, with the aim of
increasing society’s understanding of mental
illnesses and to promote research and
education to help prevent further tragedies.
In November 2016, Milford Haven was invited
to speak on the subject of suicide prevention
measures in front of the Health Select
Committee in Parliament. ‘It was a great
privilege,’ she says. ‘My main goal is to open
a series of centres, called James’ Place,
where people who are in crisis can go for
immediate help. After eight years of working
really hard in this field, it was a huge step in
the right direction to finally get up and speak
in front of the right people.’ Milford Haven
also works closely with a number of small
charities. ‘I set up The Alliance of Suicide
Prevention Charities [TASC] about six years
ago. We meet quarterly to share information
and we occasionally co-fund initiatives. It
works very well. Awareness has grown a lot
over the years – I have seen a big change –
but while the stigma of mental health has
lessened, the problem hasn’t yet gone away.’
Milford Haven has brought her polo and
charity work together on several occasions,
supported by the luxury watch brand
Jaeger-LeCoultre, of which she is an
ambassador. ‘I have been working with
Jaeger-LeCoultre for 12 years,’ says Clare.
‘We have a very good, mutually supportive
relationship. What they give me – such as
One of polo’s most prominent female players and a Jaeger-LeCoultre
ambassador, Clare Milford Haven tells Carolina Beresford why promoting awareness
of men’s mental health issues is a cause close to her heart
Opposite:
Clare Milford
Haven wearing a
Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso
wristwatch.
Above:
Milford Haven plays
in a friendly tournament
at La Herradura in
Pilar, Argentina
