A Little Hulton-based mental health charity is encouraging men to open up ahead of Men’s Mental Health Awareness Month.
Talk about it Mate is a group based in Little Hulton and Walkden that encourages men to talk openly about their mental health and support each other.
November marks the start of men’s mental health awareness month. Statistics from Mental Health Foundation show that 1 in 8 men each year will struggle with their mental health.
Mike Richard set up the Talk about it mate group in 2017 after going through his own mental health difficulties during his life. His own personal struggles have driven his passion to get men talking and believes that things are changing.
Mr Richard said: “From a men’s mental health perspective, I think that the raising awareness idea has done its job because more people are coming forward. It is still not getting through to the people who need it the most, and they might not be ready to come to these things.”
Talk about it Mate has expanded to different groups that run throughout the week that all have the aim of supporting men and women with their mental health. Mike believes that one of the things that makes it so special is the unity of everyone who attends. He explained: “The goal is really what people bring to it. For me, community is relationships, it’s also experiences.
“We can all read the statistics, we can all regurgitate things that are psychological and that but its the felt sense that we’re working with here. We can see how it sparks off those connections. That for me is the magic of the group.”
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The group’s continued success has led to a new group starting this weekend called ‘The Brew Crew’. It will run for a 20 weeks and take place at the Make Space in Walkden Town Centre.
The Brew Crew was originally started by group attendees to offer support to each other in between the sessions and will still run on a Friday at the Hug in a Mug café in Walkden alongside the drop-in session on Saturdays.
The group will be run by the volunteers that have been attending the Talk about it Mate group and it is a space for people to get a hot drink and food, meet some people and share experiences.
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