Team effort to prevent suicides

Fife sportsmen and women have teamed up with health experts to help prevent suicides.

Dunfermline Athletic, Raith Rovers, East Fife and Cowdenbeath football clubs, along with Fife Flyers ice hockey team, are encouraging anyone in crisis or distress to reach out for support.

Well-known football figures Caroline Weir and Jim Leishman and teams Hillfield Swifts and Kelty Hearts have also joined support services such as Andy’s Man Club, Penumbra, Sam’s Café and the Samaritans to urge those who are struggling to seek help.

The groups are working alongside Fife Health and Social Care Partnership (FHSCP) in National Suicide Prevention Week from September 5-13, at a time when mental health problems are expected to increase due to fear and isolation caused by Covid-19.

They have produced a video with the hashtag #YoureNotOnYourOwn, containing contributions from many support services across the region. It will be released across social media and on Kingdom FM next week.

FHSCP director Nicky Connor said: “Suicide can affect us all and as a community we all have a part to play.”

Dunfermline Athletic mental health ambassador Eddie Martin said the video showed the range of help on offer. “The message of the campaign is very important and this shows that help and great support groups are out there,” he added.

Scottish Government figures, published last year, showed 381 people took their own lives in Fife from 2011-17.

For information about suicide prevention and the support on offer go to healthyfife.net/ suicide-prevention/