A BORDERS dad believes more help should be made available for the forgotten parents of children with mental health issues - despite a blessing in the form of a bike.

Russell Barrett's son suffers from various conditions related to Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.

These include anxiety, night terrors, hallucinations and bouts of despair and depression.

And his 42-year-old single-parent father has found dead-end after dead-end in his search for support.

Russell, who lives in a rural cottage in Tweeddale, told us: "Following an incident with the police recently I received a letter from social services offering help.

"I decided to phone them and take up their offer of the help only to be told there wasn't any and I should go to my doctor.

"My family are down in Newcastle and I don't get any respite from looking after my son except for a week or two in the holidays.

"Thankfully my son has a good school and I have a great boss who allows me to change my hours at short notice."

Despite his difficulties, the health and safety worker has found some unexpected relief after pulling a rusty bike from the sea during a day out in Eyemouth.

Russell repaired the bicycle for his son to ride around their rural home.

And he also made an appeal to the Cash for Kids charity to see if a new bike could be found for his son.

Russell added: "The bike wasn't great but my son was enjoying being out cycling. It also allowed me some respite and my son gets short-term relief from his symptoms.

"I put a call in to Cash for Kids to see if it was possible to get a new bike and they have been brilliant."

Radio Borders Cash for Kids helps families with difficulties from across the region from their base at Radio Borders in Tweedbank.

Despite being unable to provide immediate funding for Russell, they did source a new bicycle.

Charity manager Candy Rafferty told us: "Unfortunately we had just processed the second of our four annual grant rounds, so were unable to provide funds.

"However, I knew just who to contact.

"Go Outdoors in Berwick sponsored our Superhero Day back in May.

"It’s very much a family oriented company, committed to their community.

"James Renton the store manager is a dad himself, and I knew he would have a real understanding of the difference a bike could make to this youngster’s life."

Go Outdoors quickly agreed to donate a Calibre Two Two bicycle worth £500.

And Russell's son is now relieving his symptoms in the saddle while his dad gets a well-deserved rest.

James Renton from Go Outdoors said: "When we heard about the plea for a bike through Radio Borders, we of course wanted to help.

"Go Outdoors has recently had a refit of the bike department, offering the best selection of bikes available in the local area which we were keen to offer on this opportunity. 

"It's great to see that spending time doing activities outdoors have helped begin recovery and only hope the new bike helps further."