A PRACTICE racquet used by Andy Murray just weeks before he won the US Open. Football jerseys signed by Pele and Maradona. A programme from the England's victorious 1966 World Cup final.
These are just a few of the memorabilia amassed over 20 years by self-confessed "sports nut" Duncan Shaw, but now the charity executive is preparing to sell off his prized collection to pay for a fundraising trek to Ecuador after a 15-month period that has seen his own organisation - like so many others - stripped of income.
"All the small charities were left in the same boat," said Mr Shaw, who has been chief executive of Greenock-based trauma charity Safe Harbour since 2013.
"Mental health in particular took a back seat," he added.
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Safe Harbour provides a unique talking therapies and one-to-one emotional support service for Inverclyde residents experiencing stress, anxiety and depression.
The region has the highest levels of socioeconomic deprivation in Scotland.
Clients range from ex-service personnel suffering post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) to survivors of domestic or childhood sexual abuse.
In a disturbing signal of the impact of lockdown on vulnerable families, Mr Shaw says the charity has dealt with "more incest cases in the past year than we’ve seen in the past five" as well as a rising tide of revenge porn, sexual assaults and domestic abuse.
In the most serious cases the charity will bring the police in for support, something Mr Shaw says it has had to do more often in the past 18 months than in the previous five years.
It has also dealt more than ever with people driven to the brink of ending their lives.
“Generally we do about 10 to 12 suicide interventions a year," said Mr Shaw.
"We've had about 16 within a five month period, and thankfully they all survived. That’s why we chose not to not close the doors, not to furlough staff - it just wasn’t the thing to do."
Many of those treated by Safe Harbour are referred by GPs.
The charity's approach, which draws on neuro-linguistic counselling techniques developed by famed American linguist Noam Chomsky, has led dozens of patients with long-standing depression or anxiety to reveal previously undisclosed sexual assaults.
Mr Shaw said: "In last five years we have picked up 68 previously undisclosed sexual traumas which is generating the anxiety and depression, but which the GP maybe hasn't had the time to drill down into.
"When they come here, we’re able to open that process up to get to the root cause."
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Strathclyde University is currently evaluating the service, which Mr Shaw hopes will pave the way to the model being adopted in other regions.
"It belongs in areas like Parkhead and Govan, in areas with extreme deprivation," said Mr Shaw.
"These are not just mental health issues. It's deprivation, unemployment, drug abuse - there's a lot of factors impacting on people's lives.
"I think we have a tsunami coming, and it'll be small third sector organisations like ours that pick up the pieces.
"Our referrals come from GPs, but we don’t get anything from the NHS. There's disconnect - it’ll exhaust the service but not contribute to the delivery."
In October last year, Safe Harbour was forced to let staff go after Covid delayed funding applications nationally, and forced the charity to burn through its reserves.
It has survived since on a shoestring budget and a skeleton staff of five, including three volunteers, before finally securing a cash boost from the National Lottery in May.
Dr Craig Speirs, a GP who is the charity's chair and clinical director, said lottery funding would provide "some stability" for the next three years, but otherwise Safe Harbour is reliant on donations.
"[We] need support to bridge the shortfall in our funding to maintain a full service," he said. "The need for this type of intervention, in such a depressed area as our community, is endless."
Mr Shaw is now turning to his sports memorabilia collection to help plug a £100,000 gap in the charity's coffers.
The Greenock Morton fan hopes to raise around £6000 by selling off the items, which includes a signed practice racquet used by Andy Murray in the run up to his breakthrough major win in the US Open in 2012, a Manchester United top worn by David Beckham, and a Real Madrid pin gifted to him by club president Florentino Perez.
Most of the items have been acquired from friends working in football, or from online and TV sports competitions.
Mr Shaw plans to use the £6000 to fund a 150-mile sponsored trek along the coast of Ecuador next year, for which he hopes to raise £100,000 in aid of Safe Harbour by asking 100 businesses to pledge £1000 each.
He admits the collection will be "hard to part with", but adds that walking is his own therapy.
"When you do this job you hear a lot of dark, dark stories unfortunately - walking is how I switch off."
Anyone interested in the sports memorabilia, donating, or seeking support can find contact details at www.safeharbour.org.uk
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