{"id":663445,"date":"2026-11-01T08:22:10","date_gmt":"2026-11-01T08:22:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/663445\/"},"modified":"2026-11-01T08:22:10","modified_gmt":"2026-11-01T08:22:10","slug":"ive-seen-people-go-from-broken-to-better-west-belfast-man-on-how-divis-mountain-is-helping-people-deal-with-mental-health-issues","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/663445\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018I\u2019ve seen people go from broken to better\u2019 \u2013 West Belfast man on how Divis Mountain is helping people deal with mental health issues"},"content":{"rendered":"

A west Belfast man<\/a> is hoping to set up a dedicated suicide prevention centre following the success of his men\u2019s walking group which saw him recently receive a mental health<\/a> award.<\/p>\n

Aidan Malone, 32, founded the Divis Mountain Men group in May 2025 as a way of getting men together to talk about their feelings.<\/p>\n

Last week, he received the inspiring individual prize at the Mental Health & Wellbeing Ireland Awards for his contribution to mental health awareness. <\/p>\n

Speaking to The Irish News, Mr Malone said he set up the group after experiencing personal struggles with addiction.<\/p>\n

\"Mo<\/a>\"Noah<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve lost a lot of people to suicide and addiction,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\"AidanMr Malone with his dog Kai, the group’s mascot PICTURE: BRIAN LINCOLN <\/p>\n

\u201cI had two friends die in one week and I was at a real low point in my life, and I thought something needs to change, something needs to be done.<\/p>\n

\u201cDivis Mountain is somewhere that\u2019s always been quite special to me.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve spent a lot of time here. I\u2019ve also spent a lot of time alone here dealing with things that were very difficult and I realised it\u2019s a beautiful, healing place and if we could bring people together a lot more could be done.\u201d<\/p>\n

Each Tuesday at 7pm, between 20 and 50 men from all communities, backgrounds and ages set off from the Divis Mountain car park to walk to the summit and back. <\/p>\n

The route also includes a stop along the way where Mr Malone leads the group in breathing exercises. Once at the top, the men carry out a \u2018check-in\u2019, where the men can talk about whatever they feel comfortable sharing. <\/p>\n

\"AidanThe group walk every Tuesday from 7pm and gather at the Divis Mountain car park PICTURE: BRIAN LINCOLN <\/p>\n

\u201cWe can talk about anything ranging from addiction, our mental health, the businesses we\u2019re setting up, how we\u2019re getting on with our families, how our relationships are going, how they\u2019re not going,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of guys come here just because it is a lot of fun and you get honest conversation.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you come to this mountain and to this group everybody is equal.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mr Malone said he has witnessed some men come to the group while at their lowest and that it was a starting point for them seeking the help they needed. <\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve seen people go from broken to better,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Now, the 32-year-old is hoping to soon open a dedicated suicide prevention and wellbeing hub.<\/p>\n

\u201cA big plus will be anybody can come,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWheelchair users can come, older members whose mobility is now restricted or are having breathing issues, they\u2019ll be able to come to the centre.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy dream would be for us all to be there on Christmas day having a dinner together because many of us don\u2019t have family members or people that we can go to for that.\u201d <\/p>\n

Mr Malone added that everyone is welcome to attend the weekly walking group and that those who come along are not always struggling. <\/p>\n

\u201cI was afraid the first time I asked for help,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut anybody who\u2019s ever came here, after they\u2019ve gotten over that fear, they say they wish they had done it sooner and it\u2019s set up to make it easier for you. <\/p>\n

\u201cDon\u2019t be afraid. We are here and we are waiting for you.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A west Belfast man is hoping to set up a dedicated suicide prevention centre following the success of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":663446,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[163,536,85,46,522,523,108685,31525,254274],"class_list":["post-663445","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mental-health","tag-health","tag-health-and-fitness","tag-il","tag-israel","tag-mental-health","tag-mentalhealth","tag-mountain","tag-walk","tag-west-belfast"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/663445","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=663445"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/663445\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/663446"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=663445"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=663445"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=663445"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}