Man Down UK

A few ways to look after your mental health this Christmas 🎅🏻 The festive season you are expected and sometimes pressured into feeling different. It's supposed to be a time of joy and excitement. Some of us will be spending time with loved ones and family but some of us will feel a sense of loneliness. Apart from it normally being a festive time of year it can also be one of the most stressful and lonely periods of the year, followed by the sudden 'lull' of January. It's important to try and remember how to maintain your mental health and wellbeing over the Christmas period. Below are just a few suggestions on how to take care of yourself during this time of year. 👉🏻 Talk About Your Feelings 👉🏻 Keep in touch and reach out 👉🏻 Take a break 👉🏻 Eat well 👉🏻 Drink responsibly 👉🏻 Accept who you are 👉🏻 Keep active 👉🏻 Ask for help 👉🏻 Care for others Whatever your plans this Christmas, please take care of yourself and each other. Let's Talk About It!

INTERNATIONAL MENS DAY 2024 💙 75% of suicides are men 12 men a day complete suicide 84 men a week in the U.K. take their own lives. Let's just think about that for a second... “Man up" "Boys don't cry" "Nice guys finish last" These are just some of the unhelpful and damaging messages that almost all boys will hear early on in their lives. The messages come from all directions, and these reinforcing and toxic messages continue through adolescence and into adulthood. Is it any wonder so many of us men are unable to open up about our feelings and mental health? We are at the beginning of an exciting, major cultural shift in how we think about mental health, self-care and mental illness as a country. And we need to be thinking about the impact of gender, gender expectations and gender identity every step of the way if we are going to make the much needed changes in our society. Let's be really clear... Right now, there is a major crisis in men's mental health and wellbeing. Too many men still find it difficult to speak openly about their feelings, worries, and mental health struggles. Research has shown that this feeling is often most prevalent in the workplace, with 40% of men reporting they would prefer to hide any such issues from senior management, owing to the fear of being told to "man up" and/or their career being negatively impacted. Let's start the conversation today, let's end the shame and squash the stigma attached to men's mental health. Let's Talk About It! Man Down UK

It's our 6th birthday! 🎈 6 years ago yesterday, we opened our doors for the first time in Penryn, Cornwall and 8 brave men graced us with their presence that evening. Fast forward 6 years and we have over 80 volunteers and nearly 40 meetings taking place across the country. With making the decision back in March to take this framework to every man, in every town, in every city across the U.K. Our main focus has and always will be to reduce male suicide, it's that simple for us 🙌🏻 Our board of directors, our facilitators, our admin team. We are all working endlessly behind the scenes to ensure this project is a huge success and we won't stop until we achieve that. So thank you to everyone who has ever donated, provided support, run an event, shared our posts and liked our page, to all the amazing people who encourage us daily. It's means the world to us. So here's to the future of Man Down UK 🚀 Let's Talk About It! 💙

📢 CAN YOUR BUSINESS HELP ?? 📢 We are actively looking for businesses within the Cornwall, Devon and Somerset areas to help support our growth and development efforts. More men need our support out there, more than ever currently. So we need a little help. Can your business provide support financially ?? Would your place of work benefit from having our team come into your organisation and present our mental health workplace workshop ?? Feel free to tag any local businesses that you think would be interested in getting involved with our mission to prevent male suicide across the country 💙 Please send an email to [email protected] or send us a DM Let's Talk About It!

VOLUNTEERS NEEDED! Do you want to join our fight to reduce male suicide in the UK? Currently we have positions available within our organisation to help facilitate our meetings across the country. Are you male and over the age of 25 years old? ✔️ Have you got lived experience of poor mental health? ✔️ Are you in a good place right now emotionally? ✔️ Are you empathetic, compassionate, patient and non-judgmental? ✔️ Can you spare 2 hours every fortnight? ✔️ Are you willing to undertake the relevant training which is funded by Man Down? ✔️ IF YOU'VE ANSWERED YES... To all of the questions above then we would love to hear from you and arrange to chat further. Please send an email to: [email protected]

Suicide is preventable...... Many people think that a suicide attempt is a selfish act because the person just does not care about the people left behind . We can tell you that when a person gets to that point , they truly believe that their loved ones will be much better off without them. Mental ill health can still be a source of embarrassment and shame for everyone, irrespective of their gender identity. However, men are more likely to avoid seeking help until they have reached crisis point. Sadly, the narrative still exists that real men are strong and invulnerable. The damaging impact of a culture that expects us to ‘man up’ can prevent men from speaking up and seeking help. This is perhaps more noticeable when you look at the facts about men and suicide. Suicide is the biggest killer of men under the age of 45. Let’s start talking If talking isn’t something that comes naturally to you , take a deep breath and take a moment to think about the language you might use to start a conversation. Once one person starts talking about mental health and wellbeing, our experience is that lots of people want to talk. We all have mental health just as we have physical health and talking helps to reduce the stigma. The most important thing to remember is that YOU ARE IMPORTANT and YOU ARE LOVED. You have an opportunity to think differently about your life. One thing we have discovered within the groups is this, you do have a choice. It will be the toughest battle of your life but circumstances do change and life does improve and you can live a happy life alongside suffering with a mental illness, that’s the choice. Let’s talk about it, not just today, but everyday. www.mandown-cornwall.co.uk

We did it! We cycled 507 miles at our depot in Cornwall to raise awareness about mental health in the construction industry and raise £2,935 for Man Down UK. Thank you very much to all those who participated by cycling (especially after working on site all day or before working), donating, helping, or just coming around to show their support. Big thanks to Duchy Timber, Zaun Limited, AJN Steelstock Limited, KPT Timber & Building Supplies, Caradon Tool & Plant Hire , Hadley Engineering Group Ltd, CLD Physical Security Systems, JT Fencing, Fastline Steel Services UK Ltd, Bond Timber for your donations. Also, a massive thank you to Timothy Drew, Adam Gallagher, Lee Malsher, John Duffy, Zak Yeates, Louise Archer, Paul Stevenson, Mike Mander, Greg and Bev Murphy, Sam Murphy, John Mander, Jon Bridgwater, Scott Channon, James Payne, Brian Winstanley, Margaret Rawlings, Kelvin Leason, Ben Redgrove, Linda Alder, Rob Johns, Jade Hugo, Sophie, Kain Manning, Pauline Howl, Kathy Murphy, Jamie Nottle, Mitch Turner, Debbie Piper, Katy Tustain, Jamie Tustain, Carl Sewell, Sarahliz Newton, Soe Wakem, Michelle Kelly, Nicola Elliott, Tessa Gallagher, Olivia Grimwade, David Stokes-Richardson, Leah Smith, Sarah Hoffman, and Adam Binns (Binns Fencing Limited) for helping us to raise the amount of money that we did. You all made a difference!!!

Matt met Rich Townsend from Imerys yesterday, along with 30 other members of the Imerys team, and delivered a talk about men’s mental health. Thank you for your kind donation to Man Down UK and all of your support. We look forward to building a relationship with you. Let’s Talk About it! www.mandown-cornwall.co.uk

Thank you for the support Topan Group Ltd Good luck Jamie! Let’s Talk About It!

Wow! KAST Architects Nicholas James and 7 members of the KAST team completed the recent Castle to Castle swim and raised over £5,000 for Man Down, double their initial target! Thank you from everybody at Man Down UK Let’s Talk About It!