Andy's Man Club Limited | |
![]() Presentation at Scottish Rotary conference in 2024 by Alex McLintock | |
Abbreviation | AMC |
---|---|
Named after | Andy Roberts [1] |
Formation | 2016 |
Founder | Luke Ambler Elaine Roberts |
Founded at | Halifax |
Type | Limited Charitable Company |
Purpose | Male mental health |
Headquarters | Halifax |
Website | andysmanclub |
Andy's Man Club is a UK charitable organisation that coordinates weekly peer-to-peer support groups for men in the UK. It aims to help and improve mental health in men through self-help peer-to-peer interaction. The charity organises weekly 2-hour group talking sessions at over 180 venues across the UK, led by a trained group member called a facilitator.
It was formed in 2016 by Luke Ambler [2] and his mother-in-law Elaine after his brother-in-law Andy, took his own life. [3] This led them to discover that suicide is the leading cause of death in men under 50 years old in the UK and that in this demographic there is a cultural stigma towards discussing mental health. [4] [5] [6] The first meeting, held in Halifax, was attended by nine men. The charity has since set up groups in towns and cities across the UK and by February 2020 had over 800 men attending every week. [7]
In 2021, it earned the Queen's Award for Voluntary Service. [8]
As of March 2024, Andy's Man Club meetings were attended by over 4,500 men across the country; 10% these are new to the meeting. [9]
The charity's slogan is "it's okay to talk" and it describes itself as "A bunch of blokes having a chat over a brew and biscuit". [10] There are over 180 groups across the UK that meet each Monday from 19:00 to 21:00. [11] Each group meeting is led by a volunteer 'group facilitator', who has been trained by the organisation to facilitate each meeting. [12] Upon entry to a group session, free drinks and biscuits are offered to the attendees. [4] The group meeting is arranged around five questions, with each attendee invited, but not obliged, to answer a single question in turn before repeating the process for then next question. [13] The first three questions are always the same: "How has your week been?", "Name something positive from your week?" and "Anything to get off your chest?"; followed by two questions that vary each week and are designed to promote positive discussion. [13]
There are over 180 locations in the UK that have a regular Andy's Man Club meeting:
Other similar organisations [105] have come to exist, some with a local focus and others with a national. [106]
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