Two Rangers players and an athletics legend appeared at Ibrox to launch a new partnership for the club’s charity foundation.
Current players Cyriel Dessers and Jane Ross were joined by Olympic silver medalist Colin Jackson to celebrate the Rangers Charity Foundation joining forces with Scottish Action for Mental Health (SAMH).
The new collaboration sees SAMH become the Foundation’s national charity partner for the 2024/25 season, with the Rangers charity pledging to raise £20,000 for the cause.
The partnership will be focused on improving mental health in Glasgow, and will include events such as a SAMH ‘matchday takeover’ in May 2025, besides various community activities.
Launching the collaboration, Rangers striker Dessers spoke about the importance of addressing mental health issues head on.
“It can be difficult to open up to others sometimes,” he said. “But if you’re struggling, it can make all the difference.
“Mental affects everyone. It’s crucial that we all look after our mental wellbeing, and support our family, friends and colleagues when we can."
Dessers expressed his enthusiasm for the new partnership, which he hopes can help many Scots.
“It’s great that the Foundation has decided to work with SAMH this season,” he said, “to get important messages out there about mental health, and how to seek help when there is an issue.
“This partnership has the ability to help so many people in Scotland. I’m delighted to help launch it.”
BBC athletics pundit Colin Jackson, who won silver in the 110m hurdles at the 1988 Seoul Olympics, said he’d got involved with SAMH partly due to his own experiences battling with mental health.
“I know what it means to be in a difficult place,” he said.
“I’ve suffered a lot from anxiety, especially after retiring. Sometimes it can literally feel like you’re having a heart attack, you genuinely think you’re going to die. It’s not pleasant.
“And it doesn’t leave you. I can still suffer from it today, for all sorts of reasons - travel is a big one. But once you learn to deal with it, and develop your own coping mechanisms, you get through it.”
Jackson praised the new partnership, saying he knows from experience the psychological benefits that can come from exercise.
“I know the impact physical activity can have on mental health,” he said.
“Sport saved my life in a sense. It gave me an outlet, somewhere to focus my energy and feel positive about myself.
“That’s why it’s so great that this partnership has happened. Rangers have a huge reach. When you have these kinds of collaborations, it really brings attention to the cause.”
The former Team GB star, a two-time Commonwealth champion himself, also expressed his enthusiasm about the games returning to Glasgow in 2026.
“Glasgow is a great choice,” he said. “I loved it here last time. The atmosphere was amazing, and the Scottish people seemed to really embrace it.
“There’s often a lot of stress and worry before it happens. But as soon as it starts happening, people are loving it.
“The eyes of the world will be on Glasgow. There’s a couple of billion people in the Commonwealth, so you want to do it right. You want Scotland to be seen at its best.”
This is not the first time SAMH and the Rangers Charity Foundation have joined forces, with this new partnership building on their previous work together through The Changing Room project, which promotes men’s mental health and wellbeing through the power of football.
Delivered in partnership with the SPFL Trust and football clubs across Scotland, the Changing Room project involves a 12 week behavioural change course aimed at men who want to look after themselves, better their social connections, and improve the lives they lead.
It has been delivered by the Rangers Charity Foundation at Ibrox since 2022. For more, visit: https://www.rangerscharity.org.uk/community-programmes/the-changing-room-6/.
More information on Scottish Action for Mental Health can be found at: https://www.samh.org.uk/.
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article