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We are delighted to be funding For Men to Talk, a peer support group in Bedfordshire to help develop its virtual support services during the pandemic

3rd July 2020

A peer support group in Bedfordshire has received funding worth £400 to help develop its virtual support services during the pandemic.

For Men to Talk, founded by Potton resident Luke Newman, has been awarded our donation, forming part of our Distinctly Local program through which we have pledged £4,800 to local charities, groups, clubs and societies during 2020 plus another £4,800 to put towards buying gift vouchers for local retailers and service providers.

For Men to Talk provides its members with an opportunity to talk about men’s mental health.  They moved from weekly meetings at a café in Biggleswade to online get togethers via Zoom when lockdown was introduced.

Founder Luke, who suffered from depression after losing both his mother and sister to cancer, was keen for other men to have a place to talk about their feelings openly.  He said, “Sometimes men think they are the only people going through mental illness.  Typically, they find it hard to talk about things such as anxiety, depression and grief.

“I’ve been through counselling and therapy and realised that there weren’t many opportunities for men to simply talk after my sessions had finished.”

The money will be used to fund the Zoom subscription and pay for professional speakers to attend the sessions.  Planned so far are:

  • Wednesday 8thJuly, 6pm – 7pm, Andy Lane, Mental Health nurse, discussing grief.
  • Wednesday 15thJuly, 6pm -7pm, Harry Heweston, Nutritional Therapist, discussing the four pillars to wellbeing.

Luke added, “The donation from Mulberry Homes is a hugely welcome boost and means we can run our sessions for longer and bring more expertise to the table, making the sessions even more valuable and engaging.”

Kerry Jones, Sales and Marketing Director for Mulberry Homes added, “Our Distinctly Local program has been running as normal during the pandemic and we’ve been delighted to continue to support local groups, like this, with projects that are specifically benefitting communities during this challenging time.

“We felt particularly keen to support For Men To Talk since the construction sector typically has high numbers of male workers.  Having a safe place to talk, especially during the lockdown is vital to the general wellbeing of us all.”

For more information about For Men to Talk and to join the weekly sessions visit www.formentotalk.co.uk

Details

Date:
3rd July 2020
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