Ambassadors bid to beat mental health stigma

DUNDEE Madsons Basketball Club are hoping to slam dunk mental health stigma after appointing two wellbeing ambassadors.

The city club, which has existed in some form since 1964 and now boasts around 150 members, recently brought Rachael Anderson and Scott Brunton on board as mental health champions.

Working with players of all ages, parents Rachael and Scott, who have children of their own in the boys U16 team, will undergo training in partnership with Basketball Scotland and SAMH (Scottish Association for Mental Health).

After six to eight months, they will be fully qualified to tend to the needs of club members and will be ably assisted by “young well-being champions” within the teams.

It’s a programme club chairman

Robin Paterson was delighted to enrol in.

He said: “It’s something that Basketball Scotland offered and we’ve had a couple of situations in the past where there’s been players who have struggled with mental health problems.

“In the past we didn’t know how to deal with things, we tried our best but we were just stumbling along blindly.”

Amid the coronavirus pandemic and with all the club’s teams unable to train, Robin believes the roles are even more crucial.

He added: “Since the lockdown in December there’s been absolutely nothing. The guys are chomping at the bit and desperate to get back.

“That doesn’t help the mental health side of it.

“We’ve players suffering quite badly.”