When George Drummond lost two of the most important men in his life, his whole world came crashing down.
But now, almost 15 years on from the passing of his dad and papa, the Dumbarton man is helping create a “kinder society” for everyone.
George is a local ambassador for the Wave Trust, an educational charity dedicated to reducing the root causes of violence, child neglect and maltreatment.
And the group recently gained the support from West Dunbartonshire Council for their 70/30 campaign.
This aims to reduce child abuse, neglect and other adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) by at least 70 percent by the year 2030.
George told us about his own experiences and his motivation for wanting to improve society.
The 37-year-old said: “My dad passed away in 2006 and my papa in 2007.
“I collapsed in the High Street. That basically changed my life and since then I was having panic and anxiety attacks.
“It’s basically took over my life until this year. It has been that long.
“My dad was an alcoholic and some of the things that happened with him were quite traumatic but my dad was my rock.
“I adored every part of him and now he’s not here.
“It’s quite upsetting especially when I have got my own boy and girl and he won’t ever get the chance to meet them.
“That has led me to want to do all of this.
“I want to let people know it’s never too late and you are not alone.
“It might be different journeys we are on but with the one goal, recovery.”
George’s belief is the importance of people being able to open up about trauma in their lives in a bid to get a grip on why they feel the way they do.
He expressed concern over lack of GP resources able to take enough time to listen to patients’ problems properly.
George, who works in the care sector, said: “We go and speak to a GP but you are restricted with time. They will say, we will prescribe antidepressants.
“What’s missing there for me is trauma awareness, we are just putting a temporary solution in place without delving into the reason behind it.
“It all comes down to time constraints but I think we are starting to make inroads.”
George is also involved with West Dunbartonshire Addictions Recovery and Mental Health (WARM) who recently held their first face-to-face meeting at Tontine Park pavilion in Renton.
He explained: “The meeting was well attended. A few people shared their stories.
“They felt comfortable with the people in attendance to do so.
“I suffer with my mental health and have been having anxiety and panic attacks.
“I couldn’t even walk my son down to school which isn’t far, for fear I was going to collapse.
“I thought I was the only one experiencing this until I started to open up.”
Councillor Ian Dickson tabled the motion at a council meeting last month which was unanimously supported by colleagues across all parties for the council to officially support the 70/30 campaign
A report to a future meeting of the council will be prepared on how the ambitions of the campaign can best be achieved in West Dunbartonshire.
The Dumbarton SNP member said: “I would like to thank local ambassador George Drummond for bringing this to my attention and for meeting with me to discuss the campaign’s objectives.
“We need to take a collective approach.
“It’s about health, education, social work, justice and many other elements challenging the myriad of issues children face.
“We will be the first council in Scotland to commit to working with the Wave Trust on this issue.
“We have an opportunity to set down a marker to show the rest of Scotland how seriously we take these issues and we have an opportunity to demonstrate our serious commitment to addressing and preventing adverse childhood experiences at the earliest opportunity.”
George was delighted to get the backing of the council and says he looks forward to seeing the report and working out how he and his colleagues on the Wave Trust can work with the authority to create a better society.
He added: “There’s a lot of good work being done locally but there’s also things that we can improve upon as well.
“The fact that Councillor Dickson took interest in it was really good for me, really positive.
“We know West Dunbartonshire has one of the highest rates for poverty and I think with addictions as well, mental health and Covid hasn’t helped.
“Everything paints a picture and everyone has their own story.
“I think it’s important that we do talk about childhood experiences that people have had because, when we dig deep into that, we quickly become aware of how problems start.
“We are non-political and
happy to work with all political parties. This is something that all parties should be motivated to do but also to create a trauma-free society as soon as we can to create a more general kinder society.
“It takes time but once we do that I’m sure the benefits will be there for everyone to clearly see.”
George himself is making progress with his own anxiety, mental health, as well as his physique having lost three stone recently.
He told us: “For me, I am taking control of my life now.
“Just coming out of lockdown, I weighed 19st, seven and a half lbs. I have joined Slimming World and I have lost three stone.
“I am not letting anxiety control me, I am going to do something I am in control of.
“It’s important to get into that mindset but it doesn’t happen overnight.
“It’s taken me the best part of 15 years but I am making up for it.
“I want people to understand what I went through to help them and support them.”
