Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Peterhead fishermen embrace quayside health checks

Pictured are fisherman Phil Buchan and nurse Shannon Smith.
Pictured are fisherman Phil Buchan and nurse Shannon Smith.

Trawlermen working out of Europe’s biggest fishing port started taking up free quayside health checks yesterday.

The Peterhead Sea Cadets building played host to the official launch of the SeaFit programme.


>> Keep up to date with the latest news with The P&J newsletter


It is being run by the Fishermen’s Mission and Seafarers Hospital Society (SHS) and offers blood pressure and diabetes tests, mental health support and dental treatment.

The base has been set up at the town’s harbour and will also be at the site until tomorrow.

One of the fishermen who visited the temporary health centre on Seagate was Philip Buchan.

The 44-year-old is the skipper of Peterhead-registered trawler Favonious and felt it was important to get his health checked.

Mr Buchan said: “The service is here and you have to take advantage of something that is on offer.

“If the mission is willing to lay this on, I guess you’ve got to take advantage of it.

“I’ve never ever had my cholesterol tested before so it was great opportunity to get it checked. The results were good so I’m happy.

“I am sure we will see a good lot of guys come in.

“Word of mouth will help and a lot of the foreign crews will get involved too.”

David Dickens, chief executive of the Fishermen’s Mission, said he was pleased with the response to the project on its first day.

He said it is aimed at changing the way both physical and mental health is viewed by fishermen.

Mr Dickens said: “The very nature of commercial fishing means you have to go to sea when everything is right.

“It doesn’t matter what you’ve got in your appointments book or your diary you are going to fish.

“This idea that it is on the quayside and you can go and get your health checked before you go out fishing is hugely empowering.

“Hopefully this encourages fishermen to think about their own and their family’s wellbeing.

“We hope it will lead to permanent changes over time.”

The SeaFit scheme is continuing to offer free health checks to fishermen today and tomorrow.