A group of Wiltshire women who have lost relatives to suicide have staged a fundraising walk to help a men’s mental health charity to open a new centre in Trowbridge.
The group walked from the Farmhouse Inn in Southwick to the Red Admiral pub at Paxcroft Mead, Trowbridge, on Saturday, July 20, to raise just over £900 in funds for Andy’s Man’s Club.
The ‘It’s okay to talk’ walk was organised by Sarah Peacock, the aunt of Matthew Henley, 35, a father of two who was found dead on March 19 by a woman walking her dog in Biss Woods in Trowbridge.
Miss Peacock said: “It went brilliantly. We did this in his memory for men that suffer from mental health problems.
“After seeing the effect it has had on the family that have had their hearts ripped out and the pain they and other families go through due to suicide in men we have got involved with a charity called Andy's Man's Club.
“It's an all-men's mental health charity that has opened centres all over the country for men to be able to attend on a weekly basis and to break the stigma.
“It is purely for men with mental health problems over the age of 18, where they can go and join other men every week for a chat and help each other through the dark times.
“We live in a society that still has the stigma that men don't suffer. Well, they do suffer and they are still suffering in silence.
“We want to put this right, so a group of women did a fundraising walk from Southwick all the way through Trowbridge town centre.”
The group wants to raise funds to open an Andy’s Man’s Club centre in Trowbridge, saying that male suicide rates in Wiltshire are high.
They want to open a centre where men with mental health issues can go to seek help and advice and chat to others about their experiences and feelings.
“Andy's Man's Club opens the doors to men every week and there's always someone to talk to or to listen.”
During the walk, the group visited pubs, clubs and cafés as well as Trowbridge Town Park and the fire station, to help raise awareness of Andy’s Man’s Club charity and the mental health issues suffered by men.
To donate, visit gofundme.com/f/its-ok-to-talk-fundraiser?.
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