SAMH Blog

Michael is greeted by Grantham Rotary Club

Read about Michael’s day below.

I knew today’s stage would be interesting. The first 13 miles were pancake flat, then when I reached the A151 road it started to be nice and hilly: my territory! My pace was good at 6.5 miles per hour. When I reached a side road towards Grantham, 10 miles to finish, I knew it would get harder as the last stretch was more uphill than down. On my way Paul Wilson from Grantham Rotary Club joined me; it was great to have company! At the finish I was greeted by Grantham Rotary members and the Grantham Journal interviewed me which was nice. Overall great day and 31.5miles in the bag! Time to eat with the rotery guys.

You can support Michael in his epic challenge here

Five lucky SAMH Service users have been provided with a life changing opportunity to travel to the National Sports Centre, Sportilia in Italy for 14 days to take part in a Leonardo Da Vinci exchange programme. Ian, our man in Italy, will keep you all up to date with everything that is going on during the trip.

Everyone was really excited to learn that the local children they would be coaching were in fact elite youth players from 2 Serie B teams Ravena and Pescara.

Smartly dressed coaches and rows of neatly arranged marker cones and waited to greet the players as they arrived at the pitch.

Although only 11 and 12 years of age, the player’s standards were exceptional and they quickly picked up the passing and dribbling drills prepared by Ally and the coaches. Everyone incorporated some Italian into their instructions and when required the team managers stepped in to help clarify some points.

The highlight of this tour so far was watching the faces of the guys who through their involvement with SAMH’s Get Active programme had been given this opportunity. Robert Hare, Barry Gannon, Peter Dante, Rachael Mclean and John Hughes performed superbly and their level of preparation and concentration ensured that the children not only understood but thoroughly enjoyed the session.

The buzz the coaches got from the experience will stay with them for a lifetime as will the Italian phrases and the feeling of pride at what they achieved. Well done everyone!

Sean Tierney set a new year’s resolution with a difference: Sean will challenge himself to undertake a series of twelve month-long challenges for the duration of 2012. You can read below about what motivated Sean to take on these challenges in 2012.

Since I decided to undertake this challenge, alot of people have asked the inevitable question; ‘Why?’

For me, the answer is pretty complicated and long-winded, but I can break it down to the bones, and it’s for three seperate reasons.

One
My life has changed alot over the past few months. In good ways and in bad ways. I felt that giving myself a target and a goal to work towards would keep my mind occupied, would teach me more about myself, and would give me a sense of achievement.

Two
My reasons for choosing to try and raise sponsorship for SAMH are quite personal. Having suffered from mental health problems on and off since my late teens, and knowing first hand many friends and family who have went through similar things, I really value the work that charities like SAMH do.

Three
My awareness of how my mind works, and knowing at the early stages when I’m going to go through one of my lows, I’ve found a few different ways of living with this, and have learned that it’s part of my make up, and there’s only so much of it I can control. Since my lowest ebb around four years ago, my main way of dealing with these ongoing issues has been to implement small changes. Whether the changes stick or not depends on alot of factors, but I have always found it’s helped me. Small changes can have the biggest impact, yet small changes are often the hardest to make.

I really hope in doing this year long project, I can at least raise a little awareness of how common mental health issues are. There is still a stigma attached to it. But having an open forum for discussions, a greater understanding as a society, and a greater awareness of the help that’s available to everyone can only be a good thing.

Even if I just increase awareness amongst my peers, that’s a success as far as I am concerned.

You can show your support of Sean’s challenge by sponsoring him here

You can also keep updated with his challenges, show words of encouragement or even get involved through his blog

Five lucky SAMH Service users have been provided with a life changing opportunity to travel to the National Sports Centre, Sportilia in Italy for 14 days to take part in a Leonardo Da Vinci exchange programme. Ian, our man in Italy, will keep you all up to date with everything that is going on during the trip.

Five lucky SAMH Service users have been provided with a life changing opportunity to travel to the National Sports Centre, Sportilia in Italy for 14 days to take part in a Leonardo Da Vinci exchange  programme. The programme provides funding to colleges and other training organisations to provide training and educational placements in Europe.

They will be part of a group of 12 participants who have all been involved with the Street soccer Scotland programme. Joining them on this adventure and blogging back daily will be our own Get Active Programme Manager, Ian Crawford.

This opportunity arose through a partnership between Street Soccer Scotland and Cumbernauld College, which will also see each of the participants complete the Health for Life module as part of their participation.

This trip will provide the participants with the opportunity to take part in a range of activities including fitness testing, planning and leading football coaching sessions, visiting a series A football match and playing a match against the Italian Homeless World Cup team.

Ian, our man in Italy will keep you all up to date with every thing that is going on during the trip.

Ian on the plane to Italy

Day 1

Destination: Sportilia, Italy
Date: 14th April 2012

The gang arrive at Edinburgh Airport

I arrived at Edinburgh International airport with a real sense of anticipation. Waiting to greet me was the 12 other participants on the trip with Ally Dawson, Homeless World Cup winning manager.

The next 14 days will be life changing, challenging and thought provoking for all of the participants, when you consider some of the issues  they have had to deal with in their relatively short lives, such as mental health problems, homelessness, addiction and serving time in prison. I suppose it was best summed up by one of the participants when he said “This trip is beyond my wildest dreams”.

Five of the twelve participants have a direct connection SAMH’s National Programme for physical activity and sport, Get Active.

John Hughes, Robert Hare and Barry Gannon came through the Street Soccer Academy Programme which was created in partnership with Get Active and funded through the Comic Relief Sport for Change fund. Through their involvement with this project, Barry and Robert were selected for Scotland and went on to win the homeless world cup in Paris. Peter Dante and Rachel McLean are currently participants of the new Street Soccer Plus programme which is also delivered in partnership with Get Active.

The gang on the bus to Sportilia

Upon arriving in Veronia, we were greeted by torrential rail which stayed with us until our arrival at the Sportilia Complex high in the hills above the municipality of Santa Sofia.

The bus trip round the narrow winding roads in the pouring rain was a real test of skill for the driver which (lucky for us!) he passed with flying colours. No “Italian Job” moments for us! Tired and sore after our long day, we got together to complete the logbooks and personal learning plans, which are a key part of any Leonardo trip. Tomorrow we have a tour of the local area, Italian lessons and our first physical activity session.

Check this blog in the coming days for more updates from our trip!

If you would like to Get Active for SAMH, there are lots of activities that you can get involved in. Find out more here.