Please help me support Tiny Changes by sponsoring me / my T-Squared colleagues on a slightly mental 5K inflatable run!

Don’t worry – T-Squared are covering our entrance fees for the course, so all donations go to the charity.

If you can spare a minute, please consider reading my statement below about the charity and what it means to me 😊

Tiny Changes was founded by the family of Scott Hutchison (of Frightened Rabbit). They are Scotland’s first national youth mental health charity. You can read about it in their words here: https://tinychanges.com/our-story/

When T-Squared announced that we were planning to team up with Tiny Changes, I was taken aback - I hadn’t heard of the charity before then, but instantly felt that I couldn’t think of a cause I’d rather support.

The reasons are personal. I met Scott a few times, and also shared a stage with him, back in the early days of Frightened Rabbit. I couldn’t say we were friends, but I liked him and found him to be a lovely, open guy that I would’ve liked to know better.

The news of Scott’s suicide in 2018 really cut through me. That day, I had a tearful phone conversation with my sister in California… by then she and her husband were big fans of Frightened Rabbit and were deeply saddened by the tragic loss of one of their favourite artists.

At that time my own mental health was, coincidentally, on a downward trajectory. In that state, Scott’s passing – my first experience of the death of a peer – served as a stark reminder of my own mortality and fallibility.

The rest of that year was one of the hardest I’ve experienced. But I’m pleased to say that, with plenty of support, I came out the other side stronger. It was a journey that I can’t imagine having had to take alone.

It’s taken me several weeks and several attempts to write this – it’s challenging to put into words. I’d like to convey the message that it’s good to talk about mental health, but here I am, struggling to write about my own mental health of five years ago. Clearly we have a long way to go on the subject.

But hopefully it’s now evident why I think Tiny Changes is a good idea. I am delighted to be able to support them and I hope you’ll agree.