Kieron offers his Rocks-solid support
Stirling Olympian Kieron Achara has teamed up with a leading children’s charity to raise awareness of Children’s Mental Health Week.
Basketball star Kieron, 35, from Stirling said he suffered from anxiety growing up and was often made to feel different from other children because of his height and skin colour.
The 6ft 8in Glasgow Rocks captain has joined with NSPCC Scotland to help ensure that children do not have to suffer in silence.
Children’s Mental Health Week took place between February 4–10 and aims to highlight the importance of mental wellbeing for young children.
Kieron said:“It’s very easy to look at me now and see this strong, tall character playing basketball. But being tall, being black, being different when you are young is not an easy thing to go through.
“There were numerous occasions I would come home crying to my mum.
“Even now when I go into schools a lot of the children have their own uniqueness; they may have a different voice, different skin complexion, different height or have birthmarks, it’s about learning to embrace it and that can be very difficult mentally.
“My advice to any child struggling with their mental health might sound a wee bit cliched but I would tell them that it’s OK not to be OK.”
As well as calling Childline’s free confidential helpline on 0800 11 11, young people can also send emails to trained counsellors or receive support online by visiting childline.org.uk or by downloading the For Me app.