Men’s mental health was high on the agenda during Men’s Health Week (15th – 21st June) for mental health and wellbeing charity, Shawmind.
Shawmind, which is based in Newark, Nottinghamshire, kicked off a week focusing on men’s mental health by hosting its first virtual men only ManCave group, via Zoom, on Monday 15th June.
The charity, which had been hosting bi-weekly ManCave meetings at a local Newark venue before lockdown rules kicked in, was pleased to see men from as far away as London, Grimsby and Manchester join the hour-long interactive meeting.
On Monday, 10 men from across the country joined the group and heard from guest speaker Dave Cottrell from Mindset by Dave.
Dave, a long-standing supporter of Shawmind, is a mindset coach and host of the mental health podcast Master the Mind Master Anything.
After his talk, the “room” was opened up and participants asked questions, listened to one another’s stories and offered advice and support.
Peter Wingrove, Operations Director at Shawmind, said: “Our ManCave meetings have proven popular from the start and before lockdown we were regularly welcoming around 15 men from as far away as Lincoln, Hull and Nottingham.
“The statistics around men’s mental health are truly shocking; one in eight men have a common mental health problem, but men are often more reluctant than their female counterparts to ask for help or disclose their concerns to loved ones.
“Tragically, men are three times more likely than women to die by suicide in the UK. And men aged 45 – 49 have the highest age-specific suicide rate.
“Having a space to talk freely about their feelings, worries and anxieties with other men in a safe environment can help guys to process what they are going through and start to see a way forward. The ManCave was set up specifically to support that first step.”
The ManCave group will now take place in the middle of each month, with the next one already in the diary for Wednesday 15th July. Those who want to attend can get the registration link for the online session from our website.
Peter adds: “There are no expectations that those who join us for ManCave are expected to share their story unless they want to. Similarly, people regularly benefit from listening to others or offering advice to the group, so there is no pressure to speak up if guests don’t want to.
“That said, the group is a great place to share what’s on your mind. I strongly encourage all those who join to get involved and participate. That way everyone benefits.”
