ANDYSMANCLUB, are a men’s suicide prevention charity, and offer free-to-attend peer-to-peer support groups across the United Kingdom and online.
They've been kind enough to come to our Barnsley office earlier this month, where Jacob, one of their facilitators, delivered an information session to our GC Employment team's participants, and colleagues who wished to stay and listen, to talk about their provision and how it came about.
It's important that we work towards ending the stigma surrounding men’s mental health and help men through the power of conversation - helping them to create the time to educate themselves and make informed choices about what they can do to make changes in their lives – both at work and at home to support and protect their mental fitness.
Caroline Walton, Employment Advisor who helped organise the session told us:
"I see many male participants who feel like the weight of the world is on their shoulders and are suffering with some form of anxiety or depression - or both. Many tell me they wouldn’t go to a referral support meeting because they don’t know what it will be like. Fear of the unknown is the biggest factor stopping our male participants who we refer to ANDYSMANCLUB from actually going to a meeting. I hope from running sessions like this, we'll will help to break down some of those barriers and ANDYSMANCLUB will become an additional support for our participants."
Why did Andy’s Man Club come about?
ANDYSMANCLUB takes its name from Andrew Roberts, a man who sadly took his own life aged 23 in early 2016. Andy’s family had no inkling that he was suffering or struggling to the extent that he would do this, and as a result looked deeper into male suicide and men’s mental health.
They soon discovered that male suicide is the biggest killer of men under 50, with male mental health surrounded by well-ingrained cultural stigma in the UK.
In mid-2016, nine men met in a small room in the stereotypical Yorkshire town of Halifax with a simple aim of talking through their issues and helping each other deal with their mental health. All in attendance were agreed there was a magic in that room that had to be shared. This was the start of a movement that has grown faster than anyone first involved could have ever imagined.
Fast forward seven years and ANDYSMANCLUB now has groups at over 150 locations across three countries of the UK. With a service used on a weekly basis by over 3000 men, and an army of 900+ facilitators, the movement is always continuing to grow on a week-by-week basis.
Groups are completely volunteer led, with the vast majority of group facilitators having first interacted with ANDYSMANCLUB when they came through the door as a service user.
1-1 with Jacob, our Facilitator from ANDYSMANCLUB
Jacob started attending ANDYSMANCLUB three years ago. He attended the Pontefract group on their first ever meeting. He says he didn’t know why he went, he just knew he wasn’t right in himself.
When he arrived, he sat in his car talking himself out of going in, until one of the facilitators from the club came to him in his car. He asked him if he was there to attend the group and Jacob said he was, but he didn’t think it was for him.
This was the point Jacob’s life changed, because the facilitator said he thought it was for him and what harm would it do if he came for one session.
Jacob attended that one session and has never looked back; he went from just a bloke attending the meetings to being a facilitator himself with his own group.
In his own words, "ANDYSMANCLUB saved my life”. He now goes around spreading the word about Andy’s Man Club and the work they do.
Find out more information about ANDYSMANCLUB here.
As part of our activities to mark Mental Health Awareness Week earlier this year, our Health & Wellbeing EDI Network hosted a session with ANDYSMANCLUB, which highlighted to colleagues the support available through the club. Click on the image below to watch the recording from the session:
Also visit our Men's Mental Health page on Our Working Way.