Oban Camanachd takes part in suicide awareness seminar
Oban Camanachd recently teamed up with the Argyll Wellbeing Hub to raise awareness around the high suicide rates in Scotland, writes Finn Nixon.
As part of the shinty club’s Health and Safety, and Youth Protection programmes, its committee members took part in a seminar and training course with the Wellbeing Hub on Sunday April 23.
First team captain Daniel Sloss was involved in the seminar that focused on the need to be able to identify the signs of suicidal thoughts and how these could be approached to hopefully achieve a positive resolution. It was attended by family and friends of the camanachd club and others not connected to shinty, who unanimously agreed that it was a very worthwhile seminar.
A former Oban Camanachd player, Diarmid MacMillan, expertly delivered the course and seminar in his role as the mental health co-ordinator of the Argyll Wellbeing Hub.
In recognition of the work the hub does, Oban Camanachd is to have a board made up in its name which will be displayed at all home matches.
The club also participate in the Chaplaincy initiative which has been made available to shinty clubs by the Camanachd Association under the auspices of the Scottish Premier Football League.
This aims to provide counselling and support to the shinty community, with an emphasis on young people who may be struggling with mental health and other social issues.
An Argyll Wellbeing Hub Facebook post, said: “[We] would like to congratulate Oban Camanachd club and our volunteers for completing the accredited safeTALK suicide alert training course today.
“It is amazing that Oban Camanachd have taken this training to help their players and coaching team. Oban Camanachd have smashed the stigma to work towards enabling their coaches and players to talk openly about suicide.”
A Public Health Scotland (PHS) report found between 2011 and 2020, suicide was the leading cause of death among children and young adults in Scotland. It is a particularly prevalent issue for men, with the PHS reporting just under three-quarters of all suicides in Scotland are male.
All members of the Camanachd Association can access confidential and free counselling through their partnership with the Scottish Counselling Services by emailing: shinty@scottishcounsellingservices.org.uk.