Fourteen teams will battle it out in a charity footie tournament in memory of popular Linwood man James McElhinney who took his own life four years ago.
The seven-a-side tournament and fun day has been organised by mental health support group Kickin’ On, who are determined to open up the conversation on suicide prevention.
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Dave McKenna, 37, who founded the group in February last year, says the tournament is a great way to honour their pal and create awareness.
“James was just a cracking guy, I struggle with his loss every day. We grew up together, went to the football together,” he said.
“We wanted to something positive in his honour him. Obviously, there is nothing positive in what happened but we can create positivity through things like this tournament, which is all about raising awareness around mental health.”
James was just a week shy of his 30th birthday when he took his own life.
And Dave says the Linwood community has been hard hit by tragedy with others also completing suicide.
The group has moved a banner throughout the town carrying the faces of others; Jack Main, Neil McMillan, and Marc Rhoddan.
“These are the tip of the iceberg, unfortunately. Too many young people are losing their lives and we are determined to try to prevent it happening,” Dave explained.
“A big part of why we started Kickin’ On was because of what happened to James. He was such a good guy, we used to joke and ask what he was up to, and he would always have loads of things on the go, he’d have a christening in the morning, then something ta night. He got invited to everything.
“We hope to make the tournament an annual event. It was meant to happen last year but in some ways, it got cancelled was a blessing as it has meant we have more time to plan.”
After months of preparation, the James McElhinney Memorial Tournament is set for kick-off at the Mossedge Village in Linwood on Saturday morning.
Fourteen teams will compete for the win across two leagues but there will be much more than just football on the day.
“We will have tombola, food from new street food place Rolling Pig, we’ll have a DJ, a bouncy castle, live music from the Van T’s so it will be loads going on,” Dave said.
“The whole community has been amazing. Tesco, Asda, and Morrisons have all given bottles of water. So many businesses have helped out, it has been incredible.
“When Linwood comes together as a community there are few that can beat it.
“We’ll be selling our own merchandise to raise some funds for the group.
“We have missed out on so much funding the last few months, it has been hard going. So we are always trying to think of ways to raise money to make sure everything we do is free.”
Dave recently ran the 96-mile long West Highland Way to raise cash for the group, a challenge he admits he may have underestimated.
“I thought it was all old couple in Cragghoppers but it was really, really tough going but we did it and that was the main thing,” Dad-of-one Dave added.
“I ended up injuring the ligament in my knee on the second last day, it was excruciating but I just had to keep going.”
Kickin’ On now run a number of weekly classes, including a women’s support group, all designed to use fitness and football to help people open up and talk about their problems.
For more information search Kickin’ On on Facebook.
The tournament will run all day on Saturday, with the first match kicking off at 9.30am.
