Talking Movember and breaking stigmas with LETS

LETS – short for Lets Exercise Talk and Support – is a new support group centralized in Glossop that has been set up to let men talk about their mental health. Men’s mental health is a topic that does not get brought up as much as it should do, so groups like this can act as a lifeline for men that need support.

Matthew Hartle and Ryan Knight started the new group together to help men with their mental health issues, and held their first session recently on a Friday. When speaking about how well their first session on Friday went they said, “it went really well we had seven people turn up which was great.”

The initial meeting was held in The Bureau, a Glossop based organization that offers different services to the community. Whilst the first talk went well, Matt and Ryan were eager to introduce more outlets for their clients. “We want to start getting out on monthly walks and get them exercising out in the fresh air and get them to talk while they walk as well. Going forward we’re considering once a month doing a certain themed event and planning it well in advance too.”

The LETS group also benefits from being founded during Movember – the month that brings mens mental health to the forefront of the conversation, using the idea of growing a moustache in solidarity with mental health.

The guys talked in depth about how Movember can contribute towards breaking the stigma that surrounds men’s mental health, saying “I think simple things like lads seeing the moustache, I know over in Australia in the NRL (National Rugby League) all the players grow their tashes so anyone who’s watching the game and seeing the players in the paper they’ll see the tash and think of men’s mental health. It’s a conversation starter-  it gets the awareness out there, there’s something simple about just seeing a tash on someone’s face and you know why they’re doing it and who they’re supporting.”

Both Matthew and Ryan have suffered with mental health issues, so they are talking from experience. They want to help men so that they can improve their way of thinking and live a mentally healthier life.

When asked about their personal experiences with mental health Matthew Hartle, who runs the support group and owns a boxing club told us “I’ve struggled myself with depression and I’ve hit rock bottom so I’ve built myself back up from there.”

Ryan Knight, also a support group runner, talked about when his experiences with mental health started, saying, “mine was a death in the family, my brother passed and it just hit me really hard. At the time I was playing rugby and I stopped going training, which meant I wasn’t going to play in the team so I wasn’t getting paid and it just sort of snowballed. I then quit professionally and went playing amateur and I think that then gave me a platform and allowed me to just spiral just being with thelads in that sort of drinking culture, which is a very aggressive and manly culture so all of that covered up what I was really feeling.”

Some men are scared or uncomfortable to speak about their mental health, and in response to this Matthew and Ryan said “don’t be scared and feel like you’re on your own, there’s a lot of men out there who are struggling and it’s good to talk and help each other, talking does help.”

Ryan and Matt went on to state that this group is important as it gives men the chance talk about their issues. They also stated that even problems that seem lower down compared to others should be addressed because if not they will eventually bigger.

Joel from J3 Debt Solutions has invested money into the group as well and highlighted the importance of the group, saying “I feel really strongly that this is something that is needed in this area so we’re massing behind it and we’re going to support it and get involved, we encourage anyone else to get involved”.

Speaking about their plans for the future of the group Ryan said: “Matt’s going to be doing one-to-one fitness sessions, I’ll be offering one-to-one psychotherapy sessions as well as the group and then moving forward we’re hoping to get a female group going and were hoping to get some work going with young people and families.

“So it won’t just be men’s mental health because obviously that’s important but there’s a bigger picture behind that, if the dad of the household is struggling then that’s going to impact the mum and the children so it’s a bigger picture than just men’s mental health its who’s impacted by it and it’s a ripple effect.”

Some men that are struggling but feel nervous about being vulnerable in a group setting may find it challenging to be in that group setting, but Helen Thornhill from Move More Glossop gave this message saying “they can contact us privately and we will meet them outside one-to-one if the group setting feels too anxious to come across the threshold and if they need a buddy to take them in then we’ll do that as well.”

The group runs every Friday from 4pm and is located at The Bureau, Henry Street. It is free to attend, is accessible for wheelchair users and attendance is kept confidential. Those who wish to attend can drop in and if they are feeling anxious about attending, they can email helen@the-bureau.org.uk and she will arrange for a volunteer to get in contact prior to the meeting.