“We’re not solving anyone’s problems, but they don’t have to face them alone,” says Jack Woodhams, co-founder of mental health charity Menfulness.
“That’s the power of community: the power of realising it’s very normal to feel this way.”
Ten years ago, Jack could not have foreseen he would play a key part in a wellbeing movement based in York, tackling the stigma around men’s mental health.
He just really wanted a chat.
Trying to find the balance between work, being a new father and the general demands of life, Jack had found his mental health declining, taking him to what he describes as “low places”.
While post-natal support services for women seemed more commonplace, at the time there was little focus on men navigating parenthood, he says.
His wife, recognising that he was struggling, encouraged him to connect with other new fathers, including her friends’ partners.
That is how a group of sleep-deprived dads first met up for a coffee to share the highs and lows of raising children, putting the wheels in motion for the creation of what would become Menfulness.
“I don’t think we thought we’d be where we are now when we first met up,” Jack laughs.
“We just wanted a vent, a bit of bacon and a coffee – and to talk about parenthood in an honest way.”