Many of my recent engagements have centred on meeting groups who look to help people with poor mental health.

This included meeting with Stephen McLellan, from Recovery Across Mental Health (RAMH), to congratulate them on winning Employer of the Year at the Provost’s Awards.

RAMH have helped thousands of people to build independent lives. They are one of the country’s leading mental health service providers.

I also caught up with Jean, from Crisis Counselling.

Crisis has counselled more than 40,000 people since 1996, helping to improve the mental health of people across Scotland.

Their sessions are not time-limited and they give everyone the opportunity to explore problems that may be causing long-term distress.

Sadly, Jean told us there had been a huge increase in the number of children and young adults requiring support in the last couple of years.

I also had the chance to meet representatives of Home-Start.

The team at Home-Start support new parents as they learn to cope with their new responsibilities.

All too often, parents can struggle due to lack of confidence, depression or their own personal situation.

The five years between birth and school are vital for a child’s development and Home-Start make sure parents receive proper support.

Quarriers also provide two mental health support services.

With 45 per cent of care-experienced young people assessed as having mental health issues, Quarriers’ Coaching for Life project aims to support these young people to make positive life choices.

Quarriers also provides a fantastic service to people who have suffered a serious head injury.

Those who have acquired a brain injury can become isolated but Quarriers work to ensure this is not the case.

It’s great to see their head injury programme also extends to supporting the wider family.

Around one in three people are estimated to be affected by mental illness in any one year and it is one of the major challenges in Scotland and I look forward to supporting Mental Health Awareness Week, which starts on May 14.

We still have a lot of work to do to improve mental health services but I’m grateful we have some excellent organisations in Renfrewshire.

On a different note, the Commonwealth Games have started and I’m sure I’ve not been the only one who has been glued to my screen, cheering on Team Scotland.

This year’s Games feature a whole host of Renfrewshire athletes, who I’ll be looking out for.

At the time of writing, Team Scotland’s basketball team had just defeated England 78-65. Our basketball team has Renfrewshire-based stars, including Nick Collins, from Renfrew, Chris Cleary from Houston, and Kieron Achara, from Paisley.

I’m sure we’ll all be cheering for Team Scotland – and cheering even louder when we see our Renfrewshire athletes in action.