Tartan Talkers Collective
Highland Cathedral Never Give Up
“We’re both honoured to contribute to the Tartan Talkers campaign. Their work on helping to prevent suicide is really important and becoming more so all the time.
We hope that this recording and campaign will be heard by as many people as possible and we urge everyone to get involved and to talk.”
Charlie and Craig Reid
It is systemic of the fractured World we live in, that charities like Tartan Talkers, working in the coalface of society, find their help and services increasingly in demand with dramatically rising rates of suicide.
Suicide is preventable, it’s not inevitable and this single release hopefully helps towards raising awareness, reducing stigma and encourages those feeling vulnerable to talk and seek help overcoming their mental health despair.
All proceeds from the song go to Tartan Talkers.
CD Available now – https://tartantalkers.tmstor.es/
Composed by Michael Korb & Uli Roever
Lyrics by Jackie Walls
A special thanks to Michael Korb and Uli Roevers family for giving permission to use this composition, without this, it would not have been possible.
Performers:
Craig & Charlie Reid / The Proclaimers – Vocals
Emma Anstruther – Vocals
Roy Field – Acoustic guitar
Dunfermline District Pipe Band
Linlithgow RFC Male Voice Choir
Recorded by Liam Saunders at Loopmaniac, Dunfermline
The Proclaimers recorded by Bobby Heatlie at Colorsound Edinburgh
Bobby Heatlie – Keyboards
Mixed by Bobby Heatlie, Jackie Walls & Kenny MacDonald
Society is broken and mental health issues are prevalent. We are committed to preventing male suicide by offering practical and emotional support that is tailor made to suit their needs and aid recovery and support anyone who contacts us.
Set up in 2022 by Jackie Walls, Tartan Talkers was created from a base in Dunfermline in memory of Scott Taylor from Cowdenbeath.
With a high rate of male suicide in the local area, ‘Tartan Talkers’ works with the support of the local council to provide a drop-in centre where men can connect and are encouraged to talk openly, as well as being a presence in the local area. Jackie’s team of volunteers are trained in peer to peer and suicide awareness and are all aware of the importance that one conversation can make to someone’s life.
The charity has already supported hundreds of people in Fife with practical and emotional support, including facilitating a psychologist service, referrals to support services, a buddy system and telephone support line.
Highland Cathedral was played at Scott’s funeral and the tune kept looping in Jackie’s head. One night she suddenly, for the first time in her life wrote a set of lyrics to the tune.
Before she knew it, things spread into a real community-based project as folk volunteered to participate in creating the recording.
Jackie Walls
I am just an ordinary person who was left in a state of shock and disbelief when Scott took his own life. I was his aunt but more like his second mum. I absolutely adored Scott and still do.
Life can be cruel and throw unexpected invitations to join a club you never ever wanted to join but I could only imagine how the parents must feel because to lose a child has to be the worst pain for any parent to endure.
I felt more had to be done to save families from the brutality and cruelty suicide inflicts so this was why I started the charity, but it was also a way of keeping them their memory alive and making sure they will never be forgotten.
This song is for everyone who has lost a child because you never get over the loss, the pain never goes but you learn to live with it.
I have spoken to a lot of parents who have lost a child and you can visibly see the sadness in their eyes, they put on this façade that all is well with them because they are terrified that if they cry the tears will not stop.
I also feel that we are all ‘Jock Tamson’s Bairns’ and if we can do something to help those who are suffering then let’s do all we can to help because life is hard.
The song was a collective effort and could not have been done without the help of many others so this just goes to show what can be achieved if we all help one another.
I am very proud of all who contributed to the song but my wish is that it raises much needed awareness into mental health, breaks down these stoic barriers and gives people the courage to speak out.
On a positive note, it sends a strong message of hope because ‘there is a choice ye ken’.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FcrY1VVrrL8
https://www.instagram.com/tartantalkers/
Tartan Talkers Collective – Highland Cathedral Never Give Up Video
Video filmed by Sandy Henderson / Square Go Films
Everyone in the video gave their time for free, they are not actors but real people whose lives have been touched or devastated by suicide.
The 4 year old child with the teddy walking up the stairs to school lost her daddy when she was 2 and the younger lad in the football strip was10 when he lost his daddy to suicide.
The lady hugging the picture under the tree lost her only child to suicide.
Michael (21) and Callam (19) were uncle and nephew and lost their lives to suicide within 2 years of each other. The horrible reality is that these children were found by their mum’s.
You nurture a child from birth, watch them grow, protect them throughout their life and then suicide cruelly steals them.
These beautiful, vulnerable souls in the tree were real people with families who absolutely adored them. They were dad’s, brothers, uncles, sister’s and sons but their pain and mental anguish was so overwhelming that they could only see one road out of their pain – if they had only taken a minute to grasp that suicide is a permanent solution to a temporary problem.
Please remember, your life is worth fighting for so don’t let these demons win – Never give up!
Jackie Walls / Tartan Talkers
