Sport Against Suicide and CALMS team up for Fight Night at Derry's Guildhall

CALMS Fight Night at the Guildhall this Saturday, November 5, will see Sport Against Suicide present a series of boxing and kickboxing matches, following months of preparations facilitated by expert local trainers including Derry boxing legend Sean McGlinchey at St Mary’s Amateur Boxing Club in Creggan.

Thyme To Sing, CALMS’ choir, will perform on the night and were over recent days recording a special rendition of R.E.M.’s ‘Everybody Hurts’ and with former Derry City F.C. footballer, singer and presenter Felix Healy as part of a project which will remember those who have tragically died by suicide locally.

Many local businesses have also gotten onboard by donating prizes and raffle items.

Two of the organisers, Dee Robson and Debbie Lamberton, told the Journal they have been amazed by the response.

Speaking during a training session at St Mary’s in Creggan on Wednesday, Dee said: “It’s a fundraiser for CALMS, who came to us and asked us if we could organise it. They have their CALMS choir who are involved. This is the first time there is such a mixture of boxing and kickboxing event for charity, with Sean McGill from Rath Mór Warriors involved.

"The money is being raised for CALMS and Sport Against Suicide is the message. People here actually loved lost ones and they are going to fight and remember their lost loved ones. They wanted to personally participate.”

Debbie added: "We are releasing a video on Saturday night of the song the choir produced with Felix Healy and we have asked the general public to send in pictures of their loved ones. It will be very emotional.

"What we wanted to do this time is make it about Sports Against Suicide and a remembrance night. We have got the general public embedded on this. The response has been amazing; anyone who could help, if not in a big way a small way, has helped, and we are grateful for that.”

"This is the sporting community reaching out. Sport is a great alternative to helping with your mental health. CALMS offer a range of services, and the choir is one element of that, through music,” Dee said.

Sean McGill from Rath Mór Warriors kickboxing club said participating in boxing and kickboxing had so many benefits when it came to mental health.

The Guildhall will also be a very fitting venue for the event, as CALMS can trace its roots back to a public meeting here in late 1994, with the project emerging as a ‘tentative response to an expressed community need for effective support for people suffering from stress as a result of the Troubles’.

CALMS’ vision is one of a city and region “where the dangers and consequences of stress are recognised; people and organisations work to prevent stress; victims/ survivors of the conflict who experience stress are helped to cope and therefore not damaged by it; those working in the area of stress and its consequences do so in integrated and collaborative ways”.

The cross-community project, which is free at the point of entry, offers a range of interwoven programmes and services such as counselling, complementary therapies, creative and physical activities, welfare support, social outings and health talks.

For more on CALMS, see the ‘CALMS Stress Management’ Facebook page www.facebook.com/CALMSSM

Doors open at 6pm on Saturday, with the first fight at 6.45pm.

For ticket info see the ‘Sport Against Suicide’ Facebook page www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100067162920170