hub South West, the construction and infrastructure-focused partnership which works with local authorities and private sector enterprises in Lanarkshire, Ayrshire and Dumfries and Galloway, has raised £8510 to help counter the rise of suicides in Scotland.

In the run-up to the festive season, the organisation urged its partners, suppliers, and supporters to join with it in providing much needed and well-deserved support for Chris’s House, “a crisis Centre for Help, Response and Intervention Surrounding Suicide”.

Chris’s House is the first 24-hour non-medical crisis centre in Scotland offering integrated support. It was founded by Anne Rowan, a mum from Wishaw, in memory of her son, Chris, who took his own life in 2011 at the age of 36.

Ms Rowan said: “I would just like to say a massive thank you to everyone who contributed to hub South West’s appeal. Without such funds we just could not afford to run our important service.”

To date Chris’s House has been funded principally by the generosity of families that have been touched by the work Chris’s House has accomplished, and who have raised funds or made donations to allow its continued existence.

CEO of hub South West, Michael Ross said: “We are delighted to have been the catalyst of much-needed funds for such a worthwhile cause and I would like to thank everyone who contributed for their generosity.

“Chris’s House is a vital, local resource which provides people in, or approaching, a suicidal crisis with a safe place to go to secure professional support to help them recover from their current, and often temporary, state of mental ill health.

“I was honoured to meet and talk to Anne when we handed over the donation and also benefited from seeing first-hand the fantastic facility Anne and her team manage.

“We are very active in Lanarkshire having delivered several million of projects in the area and it was very important to us as a team to focus on the local community output. Community is a core value of our vision and with many of the hub South West team living locally in Wishaw we saw this as a great and worthwhile partnership.

“The increase in the number of suicides in Scotland is a shocking reminder of the critical importance of supporting mental health charities. After the extended period of solitude the pandemic has created for many, it is vital that people have a safe place to go to secure their mental health.”