MANHEALTH VOLUNTEERS VISIT ROTARY

MANHEALTH VOLUNTEERS VISIT ROTARY

Rotary Newton Aycliffe recently hosted a visit from volunteers of ManHealth. David Symington, Executive Director and Ciaran McMenamin, Volunteer Facilitator pictured with our President David, came along to our meeting to talk about the service provided by this rapidly expanding organisation. They told us that ManHealth was founded 7 years ago by someone in crisis who recognised the need to support men with their physical and mental health and was in response to the realisation that men will not speak out, feel ashamed and struggle to talk.

The room fell silent as firstly Ciaran then David related their own experiences of mental health issues, how they found help at ManHealth and then became involved as volunteers. We listened quietly as we were given the frightening statistics of suicides and other mental health connected issues. For those under 50 years old, 76% of suicides are men. 73% of adults who go missing are men. 87% of rough sleepers are men. Hearing this, many of our members felt emotional, shocked, helpless.

A new initiative is the Man Ambassador programme which trains male employees to be well-being advocates at work. The training programmes and short courses are to assist businesses to better support the men in their workforce.

Physical health is also addressed, with interventions aimed at the top 5 preventable killers of work age men, these being obesity, liver disease, diabetes, cancer, and suicide.

Come along to talk to us in a safe space where there is support without judgement. We would rather listen to your story, than attend your funeral.

For more information, access the manhealth.org.uk website where the weekly walk-in sessions are detailed and available across the region and are free to attend with more groups planned in the near future. Email info@manhealth.org.uk or call 01388 320023.