Kirkcaldy club takes on counsellors to help members during lockdown

Kirkcaldy Curnie Club has added two counsellors to its ranks in an effort to help some of its most isolated members during lockdown.

The clubs, which are part of Fife Alcohol Support Service (FASS), helps to tackle social isolation and loneliness in the Kingdom’s communities.

The initiative has been running since 2016 with groups in Kirkcaldy, Glenrothes, Methil, Cupar, Dunfermline and Cowdenbeath and aims to support people who are socially isolated in the community.

As the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic has made meeting as a group impossible, the clubs have had to drastically alter the way it delivers its services.

Donald Grieve, project manager, said: “We have employed two counsellors in response to the growing mental health issues that some of our members are experiencing due to being isolated during lockdown.

"Usually, we would host groups of between five to 15 people but as we can’t meet we have been conducting individual sessions online which has become increasingly difficult as time goes on.

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"Mental health is a big issue within the clubs, and for some of our members, lockdown has been particularly hard for them as they are isolated in their homes ruminating over their past traumas and experiences.

"Sometimes all someone needs is a bit of a lift and they are fine, but there are people who need a little bit more support than others, this is why we have taken on these counsellors, to make sure our members get the support that they need.”

Donald adds that as the clubs are unable to meet as a group due to social-distancing rules, Donald, his team, and members of the clubs have come up with ways to meet digitally.

“We have really good digital communication,” he said. “There is a closed Facebook group that members can meet and chat where they can share art, teach each other skills, and there is even weekly quizzes.

"All of the online activities are generated by the members, and several have started their own online classes such as knitting and cooking – the garden at the Polish Club were the Kirkcaldy group usually meets is flourishing as well thanks to Kelvin Falconer who has been tending to it over lockdown.

"Hopefully we can start to get things back to normal in a month or so, but because the clubs are Fife-wide and our venues are shared with other groups it simply isn’t possible at the moment.”

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Curnie Clubs

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