Kirkcaldy's Man Chat helps group which reunites siblings
This article contains affiliate links. We may earn a small commission on items purchased through this article, but that does not affect our editorial judgement.
Kirkcaldy based men's mental health group, Pete’s Man Chat has teamed up with Siblings Reunited (STAR) to help prepare its grounds before scores of kids arrive to be reunited with their siblings.
STAR reunites brothers and sisters who have been separated in the care system through adoption or kinship care, and provides the opportunity for quality and regular contact.
Advertisement
Hide AdAdvertisement
Hide AdThe charity, the only one of its kind in Scotland, is located at a picturesque farm in North East Fife and ensures a safe, fun and exhilarating learning environment where children can foster emotional bonds and help overcome the trauma associated with being separated from their siblings.
Pete Melville, founder of Pete’s Man Chat said: “STAR is a great charity. I think of it like our man chat. It is all about the environment that you put people into - putting a group of men together and telling them to talk is like what happens here with the kids when you put them all together and tell them to play with their brothers or sisters.
"It can be overwhelming and chaotic - just like the man chat - but there is so much going on here that they lose themselves in the place and then the pressure on them just drops.
"If you put people in the right environment, they will thrive.”
Advertisement
Hide AdAdvertisement
Hide AdKaren Morrison, founded STAR in 2013. It came from an idea which stemmed from her own background as her family are foster carers.
She said: “Children were coming and going and it became apparent really quickly that they were often separated in care. On top of that they weren’t given priority to see each other.
"Over the years, we have realised just how important contact with siblings is, and in talking to young people we learned about the sheer devastation of being removed from their home, sometimes in the middle of the night, sometimes by strangers, leaving in different cars not knowing when they would see each other again.
"A lightbulb moment came to me. I thought, what if they just had a place to call their own?
Advertisement
Hide AdAdvertisement
Hide Ad"There has been times at the start when it could have taken different turns, but we have stuck to our guns and really made it all about the kids.”
Pete has been volunteering at STAR for the last five years, and feels that helping others can be therapeutic for the men who attend his group’s chats.
He said: “I feel that getting the guys together, in a different environment from what they are used to, can really help them – if it can work for kids, I don’t see why it can’t work for adults.
"The idea of what I created with the man chat has spawned from the same idea of what happens here. Getting them out and about every now and again to do different things is the way forward and can really help with their mood.”
Advertisement
Hide AdAdvertisement
Hide AdThank you for reading this story on our website. While I have your attention, I also have an important request to make of you.
In order for us to continue to provide high quality and trusted local news on this free-to-read site, I am asking you to also please purchase a copy of our newspapers - the Fife Free Press, Fife Herald, St Andrews Citizen and East Fife Mail.
Our journalists are highly trained and our content is independently regulated by IPSO to some of the highest standards in the world. The dramatic events of 2020 are having a major impact on many of our local valued advertisers and consequently the advertising that we receive. We are now more reliant than ever on you helping us to provide you with news by buying a copy of our newspaper.
Thank you
Allan Crow, Editor, Fife Free Press