Men's Mental Health - Matthew Gale

There was recently a situation which had a negative impact on my mental health – I was unemployed. To better my mental health, I did some volunteering and I also did physical activities such as going to the gym, badminton and cycling – which I found really helped me.

Now that I'm back in employment, for me, taking breaks in my daily routine is important, especially going for walks. I've also personally found that going into the office more often to socialise with others, instead of working from home, has also helped my mental health.

It's been vital to look after my own mental health, because I've also needed to help my sister after her partner was diagnosed with cancer. I needed to make sure that I was in a strong place to make sure I was there to support her – by regularly checking-in with her and I helped support her during fundraise efforts at an event for cancer.

It's positive to see men's mental health about being talked more openly, with increasing more awareness – and that it's OK to talk about this. The events in particular, such as Andy’s Man Club and involving senior colleagues, is a good way to increase understanding throughout GC and are positive moves in our organisation towards this topic.