ManHealth is not a suicide prevention service but we do prevent suicide.

ManHealth are the only voluntary sector organisation using a proactive approach to address the crisis of male suicide. ManHealth provide free peer support groups across County Durham, Darlington, Tyne and Wear and Northumberland for men who are going through a storm. We know that the intense emotional pain you can experience when life is not going to plan. You may have experienced trauma which can distort your thinking so it becomes harder to see possible solutions to problems. Because of these things you may be finding it difficult  to connect with those who can offer support. Suicide might seem like the only way to make the pain stop. This is not true. Peer support offered by those who have a lived experience of mental ill health can help men live.

In 2022 ManHealth supported over 4000 men and provided over 8000 hours of free peer support.

Our Vision

• To play a vital role in supporting men and building healthier communities.

Our Mission

• To empower men experiencing mental and/or physical ill health through support, education and shared experience.

ManHealth provides weekly ongoing peer support services to men who are struggling or need someone to listen and talk with. With peer support groups spread across the North East of England, our sessions are led by men with lived experience and provide hugely valued weekly respite and a safe place for men to discuss how they feel.

With an ethos of sharing and education, our groups enable peer to peer empathy, an experienced ear and most importantly, friends that have walked the walk of mental ill health.

With an underpinning positive approach to learning about mental health issues, not only are our group facilitators trained internally to support them in helping others, but our sessions empower our service users through learning and awareness. Each session provides insight into a diverse range of challenges a service user may be experiencing from depression, to anxiety, self-awareness or sleep hygiene as examples. Through this, we encourage group discussion which consistently provides personal experience insight, a highly valuable aspect of peer to peer support.

In addition to our groups ManHealth organise specific activities that provide a physical focus to our men, with organised walking & football groups being very popular activities. In turn, these activities serve as great social interaction events, helping struggling men to improve their self-confidence.

ManHealth also provides fully accredited training and short courses for businesses enabling us as an organisation to raise awareness of men's mental and physical ill health and help others to contribute to that which is the biggest challenge, changing opinions on the need to address men's health inequalities, mental health and suicide.