Mental health messages trashed by Huntly vandals
Register for free to read more of the latest local news. It's easy and will only take a moment.
A WELLBEING duo have been spreading positive mental health messages around Huntly recently, only to have their good intentions scuppered by vandals.
Gemma Whyte and Georgia Anderson, who have battled with their own mental health issues, dedicate hours at a time to producing the coloured hearts which aim to remind people of their value if they are feeling down. They go for walks and choose locations to secure these messages of hope and have received lots of positive feedback.
Gemma said: "Someone posted on Facebook that they found one of our hearts and it said 'this is exactly what I needed to hear today'. I could have cried to read that."
Georgia originally started leaving small messages for others to find at the end of 2020 after a personal struggle with mental health.
The pair then joined forces recently for September's Suicide Awareness month and boosted the effort with increased messages.
Georgia commented: "We both have struggled with our mental health for quite a long time. It was a year yesterday since our last suicide attempt and we know how it feels to both have no hope to carry on. If it makes at least one person smile then our job is done."
Not only do the hearts serve as mental health boosters, but they are becoming a highlight for one particular young Huntly child – a three-year-old who actively seeks them out and asks his mum to read the "happy messages".
However, some people have been actively trying to scupper the pair's efforts and pictures of hearts which have been torn down and damaged have been circling online since last week.
Gemma said: "To see that people are pulling the hearts down is so disheartening and frustrating. A friend of mine has a son who has seen kids from his school damaging them.
"It takes us hours and hours to create them from printing, to hand writing, laminating and then going out to distribute them.
"We aren't going to be put off by this though. We are going to keep spreading the positive messages in the hope it will help others who are struggling."
