Mind Your Head is organising an event in partnership with local group Northern Focus Parkour this Saturday (10th September) to raise awareness of Suicide Prevention Week. The event will be a Cat crawl relay which will start at 12pm on Saturday from the bottom of Bank Lane in Lerwick and will run till 3pm.

The relay will see members of Northern Focus Parkour going up and down the lane in the cat crawl position (on their hands and feet).

During the relay representatives of Mind Your Head will be at the bottom of the lane encouraging the members on whilst handing out information on mental health and Suicide Prevention Week.

Northern Focus Parkour can be seen most Saturdays round the town doing various energetic movements including vaulting, rolling, running, climbing and jumping. The group approached Mind Your Head as they wished to promote a positive message with regards to mental health wellbeing and it was felt that their proposed relay was a great way to also raise awareness.

The group are made up of young people aged from eight to the oldest being in their early thirties and Mind Your Head are aware, following their widespread community survey, that it is especially important to promote positive messages to young people with regards to their own and others mental health wellbeing.

Jacqui Clark, Co-ordinator (Job-share) with Mind Your Head said “The fact that Northern Focus Parkour approached us wishing to help us with raising awareness was really superb. Parkour is a very popular movement based activity amongst young people in Shetland. One of the things that impresses me the most with our local Parkour group is that they support each other and have created a very strong bond amongst a large number of young people from all over the isles. That in itself is a positive message and we are delighted to be working alongside these talented young people in raising awareness of mental health wellbeing and Suicide Prevention Week”.

During Suicide Prevention Week Mind Your Head have been undertaking various awareness raising events and initiatives. Ann Thomson, Chair of Mind Your Head, explained “Raising awareness of mental ill health and suicide in our community is crucial as the best way to save lives from suicide is to talk about it. That is why events like these on Saturday are so important – our young people are promoting the importance of looking after their own mental health wellbeing whilst reducing stigma and raising awareness of an illness which touches many lives in Shetland.”