A new series of Speaking of Suicide has launched this Autumn. The series was started by us here at D&D Paving with the aim of encouraging anyone and everyone, but particularly men, in the Highlands to open up about their mental health struggles and get help. With that in mind we’ve worked in collaboration with and in support of the Highland based charity Mikeysline who have continued to work alongside the team at Adventurous Audio to produce a series which we’re truly proud of. Honest, open, moving and raw, the stories in this new series range from the inspirational to the heartbreaking but each one also provides advice and support for anyone who is struggling. We’d like to extend a huge thank you to everyone involved in the series, the bravery in sharing these stories can’t be underestimated.

You can hear the latest episode here (or scroll down the page for the whole series) or subscribe, wherever you usually listen to podcasts.

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We’re absolutely delighted that Daniel’s sister Kelsey has joined D&D Paving Ltd as the company Office Manager. Kelsey comes from a background in banking and personal finance, specialising in customer support and client liaison, so she’s perfectly placed to deal with all your paving enquiries. For their dad, David, who started D&D Paving Ltd with Daniel back in 2017, it was always the ambition to have Kelsey join them, “Daniel and Kelsey have always been close, great friends as well as siblings, so I’m delighted Kelsey has decided to join us. She’s fantastically well organised and superb when it comes to attention to detail plus her background in client liaison will be a great addition to the business, helping us deliver the best possible customer service”.

At D&D Paving we take pride in our commitment to excellence. In our on going efforts to provide top-quality services, We are excited to announce we have now become a Construction line gold accredited contractor.

We believe that investing in our team’s skills and knowledge directly translates to delivering outstanding results for our clients. Our goal is to always prioritise safety, elevate standards and achieve excellence. We’re so proud of our team for achieving this!

For Rebecca Stuart (no relation but a fine name we think!), who started the cancer jogging club, a key focus of Incredible Feet is recognising and celebrating the strength and courage of those impacted by cancer. That was an important consideration informing the design of the Incredible Feet logo. Rebecca told us “I’m delighted that our group members now get to wear that symbol of strength and courage, thanks to our sponsorship from D&D Paving Ltd. The funds D&D has provided meant that we can give every group member an Incredible Feet t-shirt.”

The t-shirts have most recently been seen in action at Inverness Boxing Club where the ‘Incredibles’ were encouraged to put on the gloves and go a few rounds with the bags! For Rebecca, “the boxing session was a wonderful opportunity to come together to try something new and show our strength in another setting. We had so much fun and give a huge thanks to our Doug for leading the boxing session, and to Laurie, for welcoming us to his club.

The Incredibles are a close community with a fantastic appetite for fun and adventure. So in the coming months we’re going to be trying out a range of activities – watch this space!”.

We’ll certainly keep watching, and we’re delighted to see our D&D Paving sponsored t-shirts being put to good use, especially if it helps keep the Incredibles fit and fighting cancer!

We are delighted to get behind the Clach u18s team and sponsor their new travel kits. We first got involved with them after sponsoring the Motm award during a Scottish youth cup match back in November. After hearing how much work Clachnacuddin do for the local community we were very keen to get more involved and took up a pitch-side board also.

David and Daniel went along to meet the team and hand over the new tops, we think our D&D colours fit rather well!

On Saturday 15^th July Inverness Boxing Club is opening its doors to D&D Paving sponsored Incredible Feet running club with the aim of encouraging people impacted by cancer to use different forms of exercise as a way to tackle both the physical and psychological effects of serious illness.

The importance of exercise during and after cancer treatment is well documented, helping to reduce tiredness and some treatment side effects, reduce depression and anxiety, strengthen muscles, joints and bones as well as potentially reducing the risk of certain cancers coming back. 

With Inverness-based jogging group Incredible Feet the aim is to combine that all important exercise with peer-to-peer support. 

Set up in March 2023 by Rebecca O’Hara – who understands some of the challenges of cancer, having recently recovered from breast cancer – Incredible Feet meets twice a week and provides post-cancer support for anyone impacted by cancer through being active and having fun, running in nature and spending time outdoors.   

Rebecca thinks the boxing session will be a great opportunity for the group to explore how various forms of exercise can benefit mind and body. She says, “The enthusiasm and support for Incredible Feet has been amazing. Our group members (aptly nicknamed ‘The Incredibles’) have embraced the opportunity to connect with others affected by cancer through a positive activity like jogging. Engaging in physical exercise allows us take control of an aspect of our health, helping us to feel stronger, more resilient and empowered.  Being part of a group that can relate to your experiences can reduce feelings of isolation that cancer often creates. The Incredibles are always up for a new challenge or adventure so we’re really looking forward to getting into the boxing ring!”  

When Head Coach at Inverness City Boxing Club, Laurie Redfern, (who’s a cancer survivor himself) was approached about the idea of holding a boxing session for people impacted by cancer, he welcomed the idea with open arms seeing it as a chance to both help others but also for him to meet fellow survivors.  He said “I never thought I would ever get cancer, I’ve trained since I was 10 so my diagnosis was a real shock but coming here through my treatment and recovery to keep training a bit was a life saver.  Coming here, it’s not about sparring in the ring, you work with the punch bags and skipping and shadow boxing. I had to cancel a boxing show I was putting on while I was in treatment, but I said to everyone ‘I have another fight, I’m training for that fight, hopefully I will win, and in the opposite corner is prostate cancer, it’ll have to be fit to beat me!’”

The whole idea of bringing the two clubs together was down to Doug Low who has a foot in both camps.

“Rebeccas vision and passion in bringing Incredible feet jogging together has formed a wonderful family of caring and sharing. I get joy from feeling I’m a part of that.

The boxing club brings that same level of companionship, all that enter through it’s doors from the community having more connections and links from life than they first realise. I’d say it’s as supportive and caring, despite many of them punching lumps out of each other weekly and enjoying it, there is a lot of respect. I’m fortunate enough having been welcomed into the boxing family many years ago, to see it’s a living and breathing sanctuary for all people, with no judgement on anything that may make us different or the same as the next person through the door.  I’m merely acting as the minister singing it’s praises, knowing what wonders and escape from absolutely everything it can bring.

Anything that can completely wipe your mind clean from the thoughts of yesterday, today and tomorrow, even for just a few minutes….is totally empowering! Freedom from stress, freedom from worry, freedom from that horrible C word or the chance to punch it’s face in, if that’s the approach you want to take.  It’s a great escape….literally.

I’m hoping the folk from Incredible feet will feel the benefit of it’s power and feel refreshed of body and mind.”

Inverness-based broadcaster and writer, Pennie Stuart, who regularly jogs with Incredible Feet, says “Its sometimes really difficult to share and describe the complicated feelings which come with diagnosis. Having a group who understand through shared experience is amazing. I love the idea of heading to the boxing club to take out some of my frustrations over having had cancer on the bag and in the ring.  I can’t wait to get the gloves on to show cancer just what I think of it, I’m sure it will be hugely therapeutic!”  

If you’ve been impacted by cancer – maybe you’ve had cancer yourself or you’ve supported a friend or family member through illness – why not come and join Incredible Feet for a jog? The group meets on Saturday mornings at 10am and Thursday evenings at 6pm and you’ll find all the details on the Facebook page!

Contact for more info:

Rebecca O’Hara [incredible-feet@outlook.com, 07552 971389]

The podcast series we support in conjunction with Mikeysline is on the look out for new stories for the next two series. The aim of the series is to provide support through shared experiences from anyone who has been affected by suicide. If you have a story to share then get in touch with the team at Adventurous Audio who produce the podcast, you can email pen@adventurousaudio.co.uk for a confidential conversation about the series and what taking part might involve.

The more we share, the more we can all make a difference to the terrible rates of suicide in the Highlands.

We’re delighted to announce our sponsorship of Highland-based Incredible Feet . Incredible Feet are a Highland-based jogging community for anyone affected by cancer. They meet twice a week and anyone and everyone affected by cancer is welcome to go along – whether you have/have had cancer yourself; have been identified as being as genetically at a higher risk of developing cancer; work or volunteer in cancer services or are a friend or family member of someone who has/had cancer.

They jog in nature-rich spaces in and around Inverness, meeting at 10am on Saturdays and 6pm on Thursdays. The meeting point is published a couple of days in advance on the Facebook page or you can contact them direct for more information.

There’s no cost to join and everyone is welcome, whatever your running/jogging experience. You can email incredible-feet@outlook.com or call 07552 971389 to find out more.

At D&D Paving Ltd we’re committed to helping support staff wellbeing, particularly when it comes to their mental health.  Mental health is a big problem for men in the Highlands and the construction industry has some of the highest figures for male suicide.  With that in mind we wanted to do something to raise awareness of men and mental health issues so, in partnership and collaboration with the charity Mikeysline, we’ve commissioned a series of honest, open and thought provoking podcasts to encourage all of us to talk more about when life’s stresses just get too much.

You can find Speaking of Suicide on your usual podcast feed or listen here.  Please help us spread the word that it’s ok not to be ok by subscribing, liking, commenting and sharing the podcast.

If you need someone to talk to, please text 07786 20 77 55, or contact Mikeysline via messenger, webchat or twitter.

Sun-Thurs 6pm – 10pm, Fri-Sat 7pm-7am.

Or come and visit them at: The Hive, 19 Academy Street, Inverness
Sun-Thurs 6pm-10pm & Fri-Sat 6pm-11pm.

The Hive, 19 Academy Street, Inverness IV1 1JN

Speaking of Suicide is an Adventurous Audio production for D&D Paving Ltd info@adventurousaudio.co.uk