A male mental health and suicide prevention charity is aiming to reassure men that it's okay to talk at their new group in Washington.
ANDYSMANCLUB was set up after 23-year-old Andrew Roberts took his life aged 23 in early 2016. The charity was started with the aim of giving men over the age of 18 a space to talk about their mental health in a non-clinical environment and has now expanded across the UK, including to the North East.
Since the first group sprung up in Hartlepool in 2016, a series of groups have been established across the North East, including ones in Newcastle, Gateshead and Sunderland. But the Washington group is the newest, having opened in October 2022 and the charity is calling on men in the area to come down and try it out if they need somewhere to talk.
Michael Chapplow, Project Development Champion at ANDYSMANCLUB, said: "There was a need for a new group, as there is in every town and city across the whole country, and we had the opportunity, thanks to Nissan, to open a group in Washington so we did. It's a really useful thing to have because there aren't a lot of places that men are encouraged to open up and talk.
"We have the highest rate of male suicide in the North East and in general, men still don't talk. We need somewhere to go where we can open up, where we can speak, and somewhere that we're not going to upset members of our family and our loved ones."
At ANDYSMANCLUB meetings, men are asked five questions each week and can talk when they have the ball. Michael says that men can say as little or as much as they want, and there's no pressure to talk if they don't want to.
He finished: "It's a non-judgmental environment for men to talk about anything and everything. I'm not going to sit here and pretend it's an easy door to walk through, but it could be the most rewarding thing you ever do - it was for me."
ANDYSMANCLUB meets every Monday at 7pm (except Bank Holidays) at the Nissan Sports and Leisure Centre. There are also North East groups in Newcastle, Sunderland, Gateshead, South Shields (Souter Lighthouse), Horden, and Hartlepool.
For more information on ANDYSMANCLUB and to find your nearest group, visit the website.
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