Pitching support for young men

How do we help young men to talk about mental health?

A brilliant new development at Quarriers Resilience for Wellbeing Service in the Scottish Borders is getting out and about and connecting with young men through that most historical and popular Borders pastime – rugby.

Service Manager Angela Freeman says “The idea of expanding our service to partner with Scottish Rugby and local rugby clubs* came about because we looked at our figures and we could see there was a gap in young males accessing the existing wellbeing and resilience support we provide – even though all the evidence tells us that young men are struggling with their mental health.”

Hear what Angela says about the project on video at www.quarriers.org.uk/borders

Pitch-side mental health sessions and training for rugby club staff mean that mental health conversations happen.

With the rates of suicide among those aged 15-24 increasing each year since 2015, that early intervention can prevent the very worst of outcomes. The service has already shown how that can happen – a young player who was feeling vulnerable and had withdrawn from peers and family with the intention of harming himself was helped by his fellow players, averting a potential tragedy. Now the plan is to expand the support to a wider age range, and to work with women's teams.