Who We Are

Built for Peterhead.
Run by Peterhead.

Vibrant Health Advocates – Apollo is a Scottish Charitable Incorporated Organisation dedicated to reaching the men of Peterhead's working harbour community with honest, informal, and stigma-free health outreach.

Our Organisation

Closing the Gap, One Conversation at a Time

Vibrant Health Advocates – Apollo was established in Peterhead to address one of the quieter health crises on Scotland's northeast coast: the stubborn reluctance of working men in the fishing industry to engage with health services until a problem has become serious — or untreatable. We are a Scottish Charitable Incorporated Organisation, governed by a volunteer board of trustees with deep roots in the Peterhead community, and we have been delivering outreach in the harbour area for a number of years.

Every decision we make is shaped by the specific geography, culture, and working patterns of this port and the people who depend on it. Our model is simple, because simplicity works. We do not build health programmes around clinic appointments or structured referrals alone — we build them around trust, and around being consistently present in the places where men in Peterhead already spend their time.

The fish market at first light. The quayside as a crew comes in from a week at sea. The processing shed during a break between shifts. These are the places where we do our most important work, and where conversations happen that would never take place in any formal setting.

Trustees at work in a community building near Peterhead harbour
Our trustees at work

Close NHS and third-sector partnerships

We work closely with NHS Grampian, local GP practices, the Scottish Ambulance Service, and third-sector partners across Aberdeenshire to make sure that when a man is ready to take a next step, there is somewhere warm and practical for him to step into.

Our Story

Why We Started, and Why We Keep Going

Vibrant Health Advocates – Apollo grew out of a recognition shared by health professionals, harbour employers, and community members alike — that standard health promotion was simply not reaching the men who crewed Peterhead's trawlers and worked its docks. Men in the fishing industry face elevated rates of cardiovascular disease, musculoskeletal injury, and mental health difficulties, shaped by long trips at sea, irregular sleep, physical exposure to the elements, and a culture in which asking for help has historically meant weakness.

The founding trustees had seen too many men reach crisis point with a condition that was entirely preventable, and they decided that if men would not come to the health system, the health system needed to come to the men.

The Apollo name was chosen deliberately — a nod both to brightness and to the ancient association with healing — and from the very beginning the organisation committed to an approach built on presence rather than pressure.

In the early days, that meant simply turning up at the harbour, introducing ourselves, and letting trust develop naturally over weeks and months of consistent contact. That patient, unhurried approach is still at the heart of everything we do today. It is what makes our relationships with the crews and workers of Peterhead genuinely different from anything that had been attempted in this community before.

We are proud of the referral relationships we have built and prouder still of the reputation we have earned with the fishing community — a reputation built one honest conversation at a time, over years of showing up regardless of the weather or the tide.

Health advocate conducting a blood pressure check dockside
Hearts & Hulls in action
Our Mission

Every Man Deserves an Honest Health Conversation

Vibrant Health Advocates – Apollo is dedicated to improving the health and wellbeing of men in and around Peterhead's working harbour community by delivering consistent, informal, and stigma-free health outreach directly in the spaces where those men live and work.

We believe that geography, occupational culture, and the unpredictable rhythms of the fishing industry should never be a barrier to basic healthcare engagement, and that every man who lands a catch at Peterhead Harbour deserves access to the kind of honest health conversation that could change — or save — his life.

We pursue that mission through sustained community presence, practical health check-ins, warm referral into NHS and community services, and the long-term relationships with fishing crews and harbour workers that turn strangers into advocates for their own wellbeing.

⚓ SCIO Registered in Scotland

A community built on trust

One honest conversation at a time, over years of showing up regardless of the weather or the tide.

The People Behind the Work

Our Board & Team

Vibrant Health Advocates – Apollo is governed by a volunteer board of trustees who bring together expertise in health, finance, and community development alongside a genuine, lived understanding of what Peterhead is and what its people need. Several trustees have direct personal or professional connections to the fishing industry, and that groundedness keeps every decision the board makes firmly anchored in the realities of harbour life.

Our day-to-day outreach is delivered by a small team of paid advocates and committed volunteers, all of whom have completed accredited training in health communication, safeguarding, and basic health screening alongside practical induction into the culture and rhythms of the Peterhead fishing community.

Morag Ritchie

Chair

Alistair Buchan

Treasurer

Kenny Duthie

Trustee

Come and find us at the harbour — or drop us a line

Whether you want to support our work, volunteer on the quayside, or simply learn more about what we do, we would very much like to hear from you.

Get in touch