Some of the
stories worth
telling.
Three years of freelancing. Four programmes. Nine locations. Scotland, England and Hong Kong. This page is about what happened in the room.
Mental Health
for Metal Heads.
The alternative community in Glasgow has its own culture, its own language, and its own relationship with mental health. When I approached the venue about bringing SMHFA to their community, I wasn't pitching a corporate wellbeing initiative. I was offering training to a group of people who already understood loss and already looked out for each other.
The training is standardised. What isn't standardised is who it reaches. This was a deliberate attempt to take Scotland's Mental Health First Aid somewhere it hadn't been before.
Year three. In full.
Report 2025–26.
504 people trained across 28 courses in Scotland, England and Hong Kong. 95.6% rated Excellent. A full account of the year: the numbers, the locations, the co-trainers, and the stories from the room.
November 2025.
The first ASIST delivery outside Scotland. Twenty-two participants in Hong Kong, working with Sandy Sinn and 21st Century Learning International. 9.68 average rating. Confidence gains close to the maximum possible.
The ferry.
The drive.
The room.
One of the things I value most about this work is the travelling it asks of me. The early Western Ferry sailings, the long drives up the A83, the overnight boat to Lerwick, and the quiet satisfaction of walking into a community I haven't visited before and knowing that by the end of the second day, it will feel familiar.
What stays with me most is the compassion, bravery and honesty people bring to these conversations, often on topics they have never spoken about openly before. Shetland. Campbeltown. Lochgilphead. Dunoon. Helensburgh. Glasgow. Edinburgh. Leeds. Hong Kong.
Working with other trainers has been one of the most valuable parts of this work. Every co-trainer brings a different perspective, a different set of experiences, and a different way of holding the room. I have learned a great deal from the people I have shared courses with, and I continue to team up with a trusted group of co-trainers across ASIST and SMHFA. The selfies are a bonus.
Jump.
Run Free.
Run Free was the Jamaican iteration of Jump: a parkour and physical theatre programme developed with the National Theatre of Scotland and the British Council. I co-created a bespoke version of the programme for young men in Kingston, working with some of the most volatile communities in the city.
Young men aged 15 to 21 from Parade Gardens, Denham Town and Trench Town used the discipline, philosophy and physicality of parkour to explore their lives, their communities and their futures. The project became a documentary film and a platform for restorative justice across communities that rarely shared the same space.
The project later extended to Trinidad, in partnership with the National Theatre of Scotland and local partners. The same philosophy in a different room: meet people where they are, help them discover what they are capable of.
Parkour is the vehicle that allows the youths to move, and the hero journey is the heart of the project.
The work that
came before.
Since 2008 I have delivered projects across the UK and internationally. The communities change. The discipline changes. The work is always about the same thing: helping people feel capable of something they weren't sure they could do. That thread runs directly from parkour coaching in Glasgow to suicide intervention training in Hong Kong.
Team of
the Year.
My team at See Me won Team of the Year at the YouthLink Scotland Awards. One of the most significant youth work accolades in Scotland. See Me is Scotland's national programme to end mental health stigma. The award recognised the impact of the work we were doing with young people. It was the moment the direction of travel became obvious.
Parkour
coaching.
Founded one of the first professional parkour coaching outfits in Scotland in 2008. Schools, youth work, festivals, community projects. The origin of everything that came after.
Arts & youth
work.
Over a decade of youth arts and movement facilitation across Scotland and internationally. Sweden, the US, Hong Kong, Jamaica, Trinidad. Every room a different community. The same approach in each one.
In their own words.
"This was far and away the best course of any kind I have been on. It really felt like a safe, supportive space and everybody's safety was the priority."
"I recently used my ASIST training to do a suicide intervention. I felt much more prepared than I have done in the past, and I am pleased to say that the individual concerned is now getting the support they need."
"In all the workshops Chris has facilitated, I have been super impressed at the energy levels and insights he brings. I always leave feeling inspired and ready to embed the learnings into my own work."
Ready to bring this
training to your team?
Public courses and in-house delivery available across Scotland and beyond.