Welcome KUHAC Welfare Officer Mike Gill

Hi folks, many of you will know me already and also know that I have recently been asked to take on the role as the Club Welfare Officer. I am delighted to take this on and thought that I would set out some details and ideas I have about the role.

Before that, a little bit of information about me. I have been a member of the club for about three years now. I have been involved in various club activities, marshalling (often with a guest appearance of my dog KC), leaflet dropping for the South Cave 10k and most enjoyably, our Couch to 5k programme.

I have always wanted to get more involved with club affairs so this role will help me achieve that. I really enjoy running and can safely say that without running and our club, retirement would be a very different prospect! Professionally, I’m a qualified Mental Health Nurse (RMN) but no longer practising. However, I remain passionate about improving mental health and general wellbeing. I’m a Trustee of Hull and East Yorkshire Mind and Director of Wellington Care, a HEY Mind subsidiary company. So, I’m hoping that this background will stand me in good stead in my new club role.

On taking up this role, I have thought about introducing a couple of new things. Firstly, I would like to establish a way of maintaining a contact with club members who are injured and / or not able to run for whatever reason. That needn’t be me, but I’m happy to lead and be the contact person. Taking that a stage further, I (and others) have thought about establishing for example a walking group for those returning to exercise after injury or a period off to maintain some sort of activity levels but mostly to keep a social contact with the club.

You will also know that the Welfare Officer was established by our Ladies Captain, Laura. Whilst I’m the named officer, Laura and I have agreed to continue to work together so that if anyone wanted to talk with someone from the club and prefers a male or a female, we can offer that choice. I know that many club members support each other in lots of different ways. I want that to continue and will help anyone in the club support others. Of course, I’m always happy to talk to anyone about mental health whether that is for yourself, family member or a colleague. I will also be very happy to put on information sessions about mental health as and when club members want that.

Now to finish off, my thanks go to Laura for her work as the previous Welfare Officer and the Committee for inviting me to take up this role. I can be contacted via face book on the Messenger part, at club events, or give me a call on 07964113963. If you have any ideas about this role, please just let me know. I look forward to carrying out the role and being a useful part of our fantastic club.