Male suicide prevention charity Andy’s Man Club has opened a fourth group in Rotherham to give men a space to talk about their mental health.
The club, founded in 2016, provides free peer support groups to encourage men to discuss their mental health. The new Rotherham Central group is the fourth to open in the town and held its first meeting last week.
Jacob Sharratt, Project Developments Champion for the local area, said the impact for group users can be huge.
He said: “They’re feeling a lot more comfortable. They’ve wanted to talk to people a lot more, get things off their chest.
“It’s actually improving their home lives as well because they’re wanting to spend time with their family and talk to their family about their issues and go out for the day.”
The expansion comes due to huge demand in Rotherham, reflecting increased attendance nationally with over 150 groups now open in the UK and over 4,000 men attending every week.
Mr. Sharratt said: “You can’t get any more lads in the rooms we’ve got available for us, so we’re having to open up other groups to take off the pressure for them, which is also opening it up for other new lads.
“People do think it will be all doom and gloom but you come out of that meeting in a very good mood having a right good laugh with the lads.”
The groups also carry out activities like ‘walk and talks’ in the local area and gala days where they promote the charity and sell merchandise to raise funds.
Mr Sharratt also spoke about the importance of male suicide prevention initiatives in Yorkshire specifically and moving past what he called the “get up, get on with it” approach.
“Even if it’s not yourself, pass the message on to someone else. Females, pass the message on to the males in their lives. Come along – it might not be for them but it’s worth a try.”
All groups meet on Mondays at 7pm, and any men over 18 can attend without needing to sign up. The new Rotherham Central group meets in the Tesco community rooms in Drummond Street, with 30 men attending its inaugural meeting.
More information can be found here, or by emailing info@andysmanclub.co.uk.