The Mànran singer and accordionist – who retired from the sport in 2014 – played music at some of their funerals, at others he carried the coffin."Every death hit us hard," he told The Sunday National.
“Our sport reaches into rural communities and we felt there was an opportunity as a governing body to use that connectedness to local communities to grow their awareness and understanding about how they can help and be more mentally healthy.” He added: “Obviously there is professional support through the NHS, but that's not always on your doorstep in rural communities."
The Scottish Government introduced a target in December 2014 for a medical practitioner to see 90% of people within 18 weeks of their referral for both adult psychological therapies and the Children and Adolescent Mental Health Service .