It has been well documented that mental health conditions have a detrimental effect on all aspects of people’s lives, with research proving it to be the most important risk factor for 0people taking their own lives. According to Heads up (2023) more than 90% of individuals who die by suicide face personal struggles with their mental health, and out of 60% of people who take their own lives have major depression.
In the United Kingdom 12 men die of suicide every day which is a rate 3 times higher than women. Men’s struggle with mental health issues often goes unrecognised due to widespread stigma, and in the UK, suicide is the second leading cause of death in men under the age of 50.
My personal experiences stemming from lack of relevant organisation to support during the most vulnerable time in my life led me to set up this charity to reach out to other men, especially from the Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) community.
This first-hand experience has put me in the best position to be able to share and support individuals in similar conditions. So, you may be wondering what my experience was, so here is a short summary about myself. My name is William and I am originally from Ghana. I currently live in Northamptonshire with my wife and two children. I have had many different careers in my lifetime, and you could say that I am a ‘jack of all trades’. In my last job I used to work as a telecom field engineer and a taxi driver in my local community. As we all know, COVID came along and changed life for a lot of people, including myself. I contracted COVID which eventually turned into long-COVID, and I was not sure why I was not getting better. After a lot of different tests, I was diagnosed with a rare auto-immune condition called Sarcoidosis. This condition can affect the body in many ways, and currently still affects my day-to-day life. This took a toll on me physically and as can be expected my mental health took a hit.
I have always been a very active individual, so when I was not able to do the things that I used to do, I did not know where to turn to for support. There is a lot more I can say here but let me get to the point.
To cut a long story short, the aim of this venture is to provide a supportive, safe space when men can come together and have an opportunity to ‘speak’ about anything they wish to, including mental health. The aim is to provide support to men, especially those from BAME backgrounds. In my own personal experience, there was never really a place that I could share my thoughts with other individuals. Men from my background are often thought to be strong and never show any signs of weaknesses. This provided the vision that went onto inspire the idea behind ‘speak’. Let’s come together and end the stigma surrounding asking for help and be there for each other, it’s time to ‘speak up’ and ‘speak out’. For more information, please
contact us.
