Snooker legend Jimmy White and Livingston manager David Martindale showed their support in an anti-addiction campaign run by Hamilton Accies.
Over 130 people flocked to Hamilton Accies ZLX Stadium last week to partake in the launch of the club’s ‘Kick Addiction’ campaign and the ‘There is Always Hope’ book.
Representatives of Police Scotland, the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service, The Army, South Lanarkshire Council and more were all in attendance and happily stepped forward to take a penalty in a bid to show their support for Accies latest anti-drugs initiative.
Jimmy, nicknamed 'The Whirlwind', battles his addiction to alcohol and drugs every day, and spoke on how important the ‘Kick Addiction’ scheme is.
He said: “I am an addict, and I fight every day to stay sober.
“All of my family were drinkers. I come from a culture where drinking was normal, the only reason someone wasn’t drinking was because they had no money.
“Everyone lived that life. I was a drinker in the 80s, and snooker got popular, so I thought I was famous. I then started taking cocaine.
“I would drink with a certain group of people, then take cocaine and get changed to go out with new people. It was an evil combination.
“I never took cocaine when I was playing because of the drug testing, so I would have six or seven days where I would think I was clean, but I wasn’t really because I knew that I would be back on it as soon as I could.
“There was no support in snooker. There was no help, it was just a vicious circle.
“This campaign is all about communication within communities to look after their own. It would be nice if the government got involved a bit more, but I can’t be dealing with politicians.”
Accies Director, Colin McGowan, was one of the organisers of the event and was proud of how it went, he said: “We hope by highlighting such a huge issue that it helps those in our community whose lives are blighted by drugs and alcohol issues.
“The change has to come now or we are going to see hundreds of thousands of people in Scotland affected by addiction-related deaths and burying their loved ones.”
Livingston FC manager David Martindale showed face alongside other managers to show his support, including Morton boss and Hamilton hero Dougie Imrie and Accies gaffer John Rankin.
Martindale spoke on how humbled he is by the work that Accies are doing for addiction, he said: “I have been friends with Colin since I tried to pass the fit and proper person test to become manager of Livingston because I had been in prison myself for the supply of drugs.
“Colin is anti-addiction, and he reached out to me and said, ‘I stand against everything that you got in prison for, but I stand with you on the steps you have made since you have come out on the rehabilitation side of it’.
“We went into Polmont together, and I am here to collect a box of the books to distribute them to the young offenders in there.
“It is all through football. One of the contacts at Polmont is a linesman in the Premiership, and he got in contact, so it shows you the power of football.
“It is so important that people are helping people within each other’s communities. It's about educating and giving people hope during and post addiction.
“I am genuinely humbled by the work they are doing. It’s incredible.”
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