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<\/p>\nA charity on the frontline of Scotland\u2019s youth mental health crisis has spoken out after raising \u00a310,000 to help desperate teenagers failed by overstretched CAMHS services.<\/p>\n
04:30, 31 Jan 2026Updated 08:56, 31 Jan 2026<\/p>\n
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Jackie Walls founder of Tartan Talkers with her nephew Scott who took his own life.<\/p>\n
A mental health charity has told how it was forced to fundraise \u00a310,000 to secure urgent private treatment for teenagers in crisis after they were unable to access NHS support.<\/a><\/p>\n Tartan Talkers, a small male suicide prevention and awareness charity based in Dunfermline<\/a>, stepped in after three vulnerable young people rang its helpline.<\/p>\n Founder Jackie Walls said the at-risk kids struggled to get GP appointments or referrals to Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS)<\/a>, despite being in urgent need of help.<\/p>\n Jackie, 57, told the Record: “Our helpline regularly receives calls from teenagers who feel abandoned by the system.<\/p>\n \u201cYoung people in crisis can hardly get any help. We\u2019ve had a number of kids who say they can\u2019t get referred or they’ve been waiting too long for intervention.\u201d<\/p>\n Jackie said the charity<\/a> felt it had no option but to help the three boys and front up the case for access to a clinical psychologist in Edinburgh.<\/p>\n Jackie Walls founder of Tartan Talkers with her nephew Scott who took his own life.(Image: Supplied)<\/p>\n Jackie continued: \u201cWe felt we had to do something, so we fundraised \u00a310,000 to send them treatment because it was the difference between life and death.<\/p>\n “I truly believe we would have lost at least one of them if we hadn\u2019t stepped.\u201d<\/p>\n She added the support the teenagers received was \u201cfantastic\u201d but that private care is simply unaffordable for most families.<\/p>\n \u201cYou cannot do this if you\u2019re in crisis and don\u2019t have money. It’s heartbreaking is that the professionals are there, but there\u2019s no funding to get young people to them.\u201d<\/p>\n Jackie Walls<\/p>\n Jackie set up Tartan Talkers when she lost her nephew, Scott, to suicide in 2022.<\/p>\n It is not specifically a youth mental health charity<\/a>, but it regularly receives calls from young people with nowhere else to turn, with their youngest recorded caller being just 13-years-old.<\/p>\n The experiences of Tartan Talkers reflect figures reported by the Record’s Save Young Lives campaign as we told that thousands of vulnerable kids are languishing on mental health waiting lists – some for years – despite our government\u2019s<\/a> promise they should be seen within 18 weeks of referral.<\/p>\n Jackie added: \u201cIt takes so much courage for a young person to say they need help. When they finally speak up, many are met with a wall of silence.\u201d<\/p>\n The Save Young Lives<\/a> campaign was launched in November and has demanded urgent action to tackle mental health crisis among kids, as harrowing figures show 26 per cent of deaths among young Scots are by probable suicide.<\/a><\/p>\n We launched the Save Young Lives campaign in November calling for action on the youth suicide epidemic.(Image: UGC)<\/p>\n We are calling for waiting lists for support to be reduced and for suicide prevention<\/a> to be taught in schools as part of the curriculum.<\/p>\n Jackie believes early intervention is vital and is backing the Record’s campaign.<\/p>\n She said: “Open, safe conversations will help reduce stigma and build resilience. We have to get in there before they leave school and not try to put sticking plasters on afterwards.<\/p>\n \u201cIf we don\u2019t address youth mental health now we risk a lost generation.”<\/p>\n Jackie’s nephew Scott.(Image: Supplied)<\/p>\n Recalling her own heartbreak after the loss of her nephew, Jackie said: \u201cThe consequences are huge for families. You don’t know how to begin to pick up the pieces.<\/p>\n “We were completely oblivious to his mental health struggles. He didn\u2019t show any signs. We later found out he had been to the doctor, but he couldn\u2019t get through to anyone when he needed to talk.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s why we started the helpline \u2014 so when someone feels like this, there is someone who will pick up..\u201d<\/p>\n Tartan Talkers<\/p>\n The last recorded data on youth deaths in Scotland from 2023 shows that of the 304 young people who died, 79 deaths were caused by probable suicide<\/a>.<\/p>\n The latest statistics from Public Health Scotland show thousands of children are being referred to Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services ( CAMHS<\/a> ) every year.<\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/1_12285.png\")
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