Skip to content

The van taking mental health support to rural Scotland

A Highland mental health charity is taking its services on the road in a bid to reach people struggling with no support close by.

Mikeysline’s mobile "Hive" is a kitted-out van visiting Highlands and islands communities, delivering one-to-one advice and a chance for people to open up.

The charity was set up in 2015 following the suicides of two men in Inverness and currently offers support from its hubs based around the Highland capital and via a dedicated text line.

Support worker Donald MacDonald said there is often nothing available for people struggling with their mental health in rural communities, making them feel more isolated and more alone.

Video by Chris MacLennan and Brian Ashman.

7 March 2024

Explore More

Shane Lewis-Hughes

Rugby mental health in right direction - player

A boy in a Kung Fu class

The Kung Fu classes helping kids with confidence

Bristol Rovers player launches mental health walk

Sarah sat at a desk with her back to the camera, with her had on a gaming keyboard and a screen in front of her showing a computer game

The 'cosy gaming' niche helping people to relax

Volunteers and artists sat around a table during a pottery session in Chilli Studios

Studio supporting mental health through art

Claire Sugden has long dark hair and is wearing a pink shirt and blue jeans as she talks to the camera. She is sitting on a brown leather sofa with family photographs on the unit behind her.

Politician 'really struggled' with postnatal anxiety

Northern Ireland

Man in dark jacket with blue shirt

'How could my head do that to my body?'

Northern Ireland

Rhiannon Williams with her dog

'Why didn't we see,' asks dad after daughter's suicide

Nate Byne presenting the weather on ABC News Breakfast

Weather presenter speaks out about on-air panic attack

Three MPs

Watch: How ‘crumbling’ Parliament affects MPs' mental health

Jon Jones listening through headphones to the 2024 EP from Teesside band Motions

Metal music used to explore addiction struggles

Abi Butcher

Watch: How to avoid mental burnout on TikTok

Alnwick Model Railway Club, a little train on the move

Model railway club searching for new home

Harry Kane talking to students at Manor School in Northamptonshire about mental health.

Harry Kane talks to pupils about mental health

Reporter Gemma Dunstan standing in front of a picture of a woman holding her head as if she has a stress headache

How to identify burnout and cope with the symptoms

Tattoo artist Ash Burnett of Before Dawn Collective in Darlington

Tattoo artist offering sessions for self-harm scars

George Du Preez developed post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) after mistakenly shooting a child

Soldier who took own life was waiting for therapy

A group of women in an outdoor sauna

Scotland’s new wild sauna culture

Young people doing parkour in London

Charity teaches parkour to help mental wellbeing

A goat at Hackney City Farm

Meeting the animals and people of Hackney City Farm

BBC Scotland weather presenter Christopher Blanchett in front of a weather map of Scotland showing snow warnings.

Watch the Storm Bert weather forecast for Scotland

Storm Bert looks set to bring more heavy snowfall across the Scotland over the weekend.

BBC Scotland political editor Glenn Campbell lying on the ground with a blue beanie hat and wrapped in a silver blanket

‘I wanted to show what having a seizure was like’

BBC Scotland's political editor Glenn Campbell has been describing his journey since being diagnosed with a cancerous brain tumour.

Weather presenter Christopher Blanchett standing in front of a large-scale photograph of wintry conditions

Weather forecast: First taste of winter in Scotland

Arctic air has been working its way in from the north, bringing cold temperatures that for the coming days.

SNP Westminster leader Stephen Flynn

Flynn: Reaction to 2026 Holyrood bid 'not pleasant'

The SNP Westminster leader will stand for the Aberdeen South and North Kincardine seat

Veterans during Edinburgh's Armistice Day event. One of them is saluting while the other have heads bowed while holding flags downward.

Watch: Armistice Day tributes take place across Scotland

The traditional 11 November two-minute period of remembrance took place at 11:00 across the country.

Three rescuers wearing life jackets and hard hats work to free a humpback whale in a sea loch

Humpback whale tangled in creel lines set free

Experts used underwater cameras to work out how the whale was trapped, before untangling it in Loch Fyne.

Sandy Duthie from Aberdeenshire is now the lighthouse keeper on Gabo Island, in Victoria

The Scot in charge of an Australian lighthouse

Sandy Duthie from Aberdeenshire is now the lighthouse keeper on Gabo Island, in Victoria

Police stand next to a blue trawler vessel moored in a harbour

Watch: Police target fishing boat over 'modern slavery' claim

A 38-year-old man was arrested and two Ghanaian men were removed from the vessel as part of the operation.

Firework explodes on the top or a building behind a traffic island sending red and yellow sparks showering metres in all directions.

Watch: Fireworks set off on Scottish streets on Bonfire Night

Fire crews have been attacked as fireworks were set off on streets across Scotland on Bonfire Night.

Gloved hand picking up one of five Lewis chessmen. Two are facing the camera and three away from the camera.

See a brand new view of the Lewis chessmen

Ten of the intricately-carved pieces have been redisplayed in a case which allows visitors to see their backs for the first time.

The Jacobite Express steam train crossing the Glenfinnan Viaduct in the Scottish Highlands

Repairing Scotland's historic 'Harry Potter' bridge

Engineers have been working day and night on the Glenfinnan Viaduct as part of a £3.4m restoration project.

Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh, wearing a blue top and black coat, stands beside Alex Salmond, wearing a blue shirt and dark jacket

Salmond death was shock to all in North Macedonia - Ahmed-Sheikh

Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh says people in North Macedonia wanted to pay tribute to Alex Salmond.

Waves can be seen overtopping the barrier at Troon. The sky is grey and sea mist is being blown high by the wind.

Watch: Stormy waters and high winds as storm hits Scotland

Storm Ashley could cause gusts of up to 70-80 mph (113-129km/h) in some areas of Scotland.

Gillian Smart wears a red and black dress. She presents the weather in front of a green screen which forecasts high winds across Scotland.

The latest weather forecast as Storm Ashley hits Scotland

Gillian Smart has the latest weather forecast, as a yellow warning for high winds gusting up to 60 mph (97km/h) is in force across the whole of Scotland.

North Macedonian soldiers carrying Alex Salmond's coffin draped in a Saltire towards a private jet

Alex Salmond’s coffin flown home to Scotland

A plane carrying Alex Salmond's body has left North Macedonia and is being flown back to Scotland.

Black and white horse sticking its head out of a barn door while a police officer feeds it

Watch: Training police horses to help deal with public disorder

The BBC has been given an exclusive insight into the training of police horses when it comes to dealing with public order.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, wears a blue suit and glasses, as he stands in the House of Commons. Angela Rayner and Rachel Reeves sit either side of him on the benches.

Salmond was a monumental figure in politics - Starmer

Prime Minister Keir Starmer pays tribute to the 'lasting legacy' of Alex Salmond.

Chris McEleny of the Alba Party speaks to the BBC via Zoom from Zagreb in Croatia

'Can't believe it's happened' - Salmond's Alba colleague

Chris McEleny of the Alba Party is travelling to North Macedonia, where Alex Salmond died on Saturday.

Calum MacColl

BBC weather presenter bursts into song live on air

Calum MacColl sung the Gaelic song that won him a gold medal at the Royal National Mòd in 2021.

Sally Magnusson sits in a darkened room wearing blue-rimmed glasses, a white top and a burgundy blazer

Sally Magnusson hears how a cure for Alzheimer's is 'within our grasp'

Sally Magnusson hears how testing for early symptoms of Alzheimer's could help find a cure for the condition.