Life-saving leaflets from a leading mental health charity have been removed from Kinnoull Hill by Perth and Kinross Council over concerns about littering.
Members of Andy’s Man Club placed their leaflets on benches and trees at the beauty spot in the hope of leading men in distress towards their organisation.
Nicol Lumsden, leader of the club’s Perth branch, wants his organisation to have a presence on the hill after a number of suicides at the Perth landmark.
However, after a number of potentially life-saving leaflets were distributed in the area the charity was contacted by council officials saying they had removed them.
Nicol said: “A few guys have rescued one another from Kinnoull Hill and there have been incidents where guys have pulled them back from the edge.
“A lot of our guys are really passionate about getting the message out there and we’ve provided them with leaflets to put up themselves.
“So they went up with leaflets and put them on signs and trees.
“We then got an email from the council saying that there was leaflets found at the top of Kinnoull Hill and they’ve had to remove them because it’s littering.
“It was pretty disappointing. The message that we want to raise is that we want our signage up there.
“We don’t see a problem with that.”
The club has called on the council to now work with them and other mental health charities to erect permanent signs at the beauty spot.
Nicol said: “We’ve had people get in touch with us saying that they’ve been lobbying the council for more permanent signs.
“If those people are wanting to lobby then that’s fantastic.”
Andy’s Man Club erected a banner at the Queen’s Bridge in Perth, which the council has not removed, but Nicol said it would be good to have a guarantee from the local authority that it could be made a permanent fixture.
The removal of the leaflets from Kinnoull Hill was highlighted at a meeting of the Perth and Kinross Health and Social Care Partnership during an Integration Joint Board (IJB) committee.
Following the meeting IJB chairman Eric Drysdale asked if council officers could find a way to accommodate signs and leaflets from mental health charities at Kinnoull Hill.
A Perth and Kinross Council spokeswoman said: “We acknowledge that Kinnoull Hill is a site where it would be beneficial to display contact information for the specialist support services offered by organisations such as the Samaritans and Andy’s Man Club.
“Officers are looking into what options are available and appropriate for the site. We will report back to a future meeting of the Integration Joint Board on the actions that have been taken by officers.”
The local authority did not respond directly to questions about why the leaflets had been removed, and if that decision would be reversed.
Andy’s Man Club in Perth meets every Monday at McDiarmid Park at 7pm.
The contact number for The Samaritans is 116 123.
