Wick shopping store donates charity cheques

A Wick supermarket handed over cheques totalling £250 to good causes on Wednesday.

At the Co-op in Angle Park, just off Thurso Road, one of the cheques was handed to the Caithness Mental Health Support Group (CMHSG) which runs The Haven in Wick and Stepping Stones in Thurso.

Co-op manager Modris Karklins said that every year the shop gives away £250 and this year the money was split equally between CMHSG and Keiss Primary School.

"We are really passionate about supporting mental health initiatives and we have lots of training modules on the subject," he added.

The Co-op's community and shared value member pioneer, Jamie Robson, said: "The money is a Co-op Community Donation, which is an annual sum each store gives to deserving causes in the community. This year we decided to split it between Keiss Primary School and the Caithness Mental Health Support Group.

"The Co-op actively promotes good mental health and wellbeing, from individual staff awareness and training, to our partnership with Scottish Association for Mental Health." He said the store was delighted to be supporting CMHSG as he handed over the cheque for £125.

Chris Mackenzie, group manager for CMHSG which runs The Haven in Wick and Stepping Stones in Thurso, turned up yesterday afternoon to receive the cheque on behalf of the organisation.

He said: "The centres are unfortunately closed at the moment but we've been doing support with some gifts and vouchers for regular service users. Everybody's had a couple of gifts from us."

Chris added that the Wick and Thurso centres, though currently closed, have members of staff on site every day who are available to contact for those with mental health issues.

Anyone struggling with these problems can contact a staff member at The Haven in Wick on 01955 605264 or Stepping Stones in Thurso at 01847 892177.

Caithness survey shows people are unsure how to access mental health services

Do you want to respond to this article? If so, click here to submit your thoughts and they may be published in print.