Our Story
Mikeysline was founded in 2015 following the tragic deaths of good friends, Martin Shaw and Michael Williamson within 48 hours of each other.
This heartbreaking loss of life only added to the growing number of suicides in the Highland area. Speaking to their peers at their wake, Ron Williamson, Mikey’s uncle, heard that young people felt that they had nowhere to go when they were at a loss when struggling with mental health issues.
So Ron, along with other key individuals, founded Mikeysline with the aim of changing this so that others might receive the help and support that Mikey needed. An aim that struck an immediate chord at the hearts of many.
Support for Mikeysline quickly gathered momentum and a grassroots charity was formed. A candlelit parade was an early indication of the level of support from those in the Highlands for everything that Mikeysline was being set up to achieve, but most of all to help prevent the tragic loss of further lives due to the lack of accessible support when it was most needed.
People can struggle daily with a multitude of mental health and emotional issues, which impact their life and health, yet only a fraction of people feel able to talk about it. At Mikeysline, our suicide prevention and mental health awareness work is at the core of what we do to break down the stigma associated with seeking support for emotional distress. That it is okay not to be okay and that no one should suffer in silence.
We're here for you
Every day, every step of the way.
Our team of staff and volunteers are there for you each and every day. They are there to…
- listen without judgement
- support you when you need it most
- where appropriate, to help to signpost you on to other organisations for support
- where appropriate, teach you or support you through some skills based CBT coping strategies
No matter your level of need, even if it’s just someone to talk to, you can always contact Mikeysline for support.
If you need someone to talk to, please text 07786 20 77 55, or contact us via messenger, webchat or Twitter.
Text Line 07786 207755
Our text line (SMS) was the first of its kind in the UK when launched in early December 2015. Today, seeking support by text remains one of the most popular options by people who contact us.
We offer a confidential, non-judgemental text support service. We understand that if you contact us about an issue that is concerning you, that it is important to you. We will do our best to support you, enabling you to talk through your concerns, offer support, guidance as appropriate and signpost you on for further support if appropriate and we will be there during the time that you need to speak in that shift.
We do ask for minimal information from you, such as your name or initials, date of birth, gender and postcode. All of this information is crucial for us in terms of our duty of care to you if we feel that you are not safe and we will not be able to continue with the conversation if you are unable to provide this information.
This anonymised information also helps us in monitor who is accessing our services, in terms of age range and gender and where we may need to take more action to reach out to others who may need our support in terms of our preventative work.
Lastly, to continue our services, we need to seek funding and general data, anonymised, can helps us identify the age range and gender of those we are supporting to help with grant applications. No other information is ever shared with funders.
Facebook Messenger
In October 2020, we extended our text-based options to include Facebook Messenger. We did this in recognition of the fact that this is a preferred communication option by many, and we wanted to offer people different options to contact us.
We offer a confidential, non-judgemental Messenger support service. We understand that if you contact us about an issue that is concerning you, that it is important to you. We will do our best to support you, enabling you to talk through your concerns, offer support, guidance as appropriate and signpost you on for further support if appropriate and we will be there during the time that you need to speak in that shift.
We do ask for minimal information from you, such as your name or initials, date of birth, gender and postcode. All of this information is crucial for us in terms of our duty of care to you if we feel that you are not safe and we will not be able to continue with the conversation if you are unable to provide this information.
This anonymised information also helps us in monitor who is accessing our services, in terms of age range and gender and where we may need to take more action to reach out to others who may need our support in terms of our preventative work.
Lastly, to continue our services, we need to seek funding and general data, anonymised, can helps us identify the age range and gender of those we are supporting to help with grant applications. No other information is ever shared with funders.
Use our Webchat
In October 2020, we extended our text-based options to include Webchat. We did this in recognition of the fact that it is an easy way to communicate if you are on our website already and that more people are using Webchat these days. It provides an additional option for people to be able to reach out for support.
We offer a confidential, non-judgemental support service via Webchat. We understand that if you contact us about an issue that is concerning you, that it is important to you. We will do our best to support you, enabling you to talk through your concerns, offer support, guidance as appropriate and signpost you on for further support if appropriate and we will be there during the time that you need to speak in that shift.
We do ask for minimal information from you, such as your name or initials, date of birth, gender and postcode. All of this information is crucial for us in terms of our duty of care to you if we feel that you are not safe and we will not be able to continue with the conversation if you are unable to provide this information.
This anonymised information also helps us in monitor who is accessing our services, in terms of age range and gender and where we may need to take more action to reach out to others who may need our support in terms of our preventative work.
Lastly, to continue our services, we need to seek funding and general data, anonymised, can helps us identify the age range and gender of those we are supporting to help with grant applications. No other information is ever shared with funders.
Use Twitter to get in touch
In October 2020, we extended our text-based options to include Twitter. We did this in recognition of the fact that some people use Twitter as a communications option, and we will keep this under review to see if this proves to be a popular way to reach out for support.
We offer a confidential, non-judgemental support service via Twitter. We understand that if you contact us about an issue that is concerning you, that it is important to you. We will do our best to support you, enabling you to talk through your concerns, offer support, guidance as appropriate and signpost you on for further support if appropriate and we will be there during the time that you need to speak in that shift.
We do ask for minimal information from you, such as your name or initials, date of birth, gender and postcode. All of this information is crucial for us in terms of our duty of care to you if we feel that you are not safe and we will not be able to continue with the conversation if you are unable to provide this information.
This anonymised information also helps us in monitor who is accessing our services, in terms of age range and gender and where we may need to take more action to reach out to others who may need our support in terms of our preventative work.
Lastly, to continue our services, we need to seek funding and general data, anonymised, can helps us identify the age range and gender of those we are supporting to help with grant applications. No other information is ever shared with funders.
Or come and visit us at one of our Hives:
The Hive - 19 Academy Street, Inverness
Sun-Thurs 6pm-10 pm & Fri-Sat 6 pm-11 pm.
The Hive at Am Bothan Community Café, by Skiach, Evanton
Sat – 1pm – 5pm
The Hive at Tescos Store, Shore Road, Tain
Wed – 4pm – 8pm
"The Hives serve as a light in the dark for those suffering emotional difficulty. We offer a confidential space where our staff and volunteers are there to listen and be a source of help for those who need it most.”
Our Goals
Mikeysline was set up with 4 main aims.
To this day, they help to provide the focus and motivation behind the work that we do:
- Help fight the Highland wide problem of chronic loneliness
- Provide a light in the dark for those in the depths of depression
- Offer a distraction from thoughts leaning towards self-harm
- Tackle the staggering rate of suicide in the Highlands head on
Our Strategy
Our strategy for the next few years is to continuously build on and improve the support services we offer.
This includes…
- expanding our text line service options
- meeting more people’s needs on a 1:1 basis at our Hives
- reviewing current service provision and taking the Hive on the road to provide outreach support
- expanding the range of support that we can provide to young people both in schools and in the community
- consulting with young people, to review how best to achieve this on an ongoing basis