Wednesday’s #Manchat which was hosted by NW Counselling Hub and attended by about 120 delegates, was a brilliant display of support from the Lincoln community towards the rising number of cases of mental illness in men. The main aim of the conference was “to help smash the stigma surrounding men’s mental health issues – which leads 84 men a week to commit suicide” – Naomi Watkins, Co-founder and Chief Executive of NW Counselling Hub
Naomi said: “Twelve men a day, 84 a week take their lives. This is shocking, and we need to do something about it. NWCH wants to lead the way in breaking the stigma associated with men’s mental health, and our #ManChat conference was just one way of encouraging people in Lincolnshire and beyond to talk openly and honestly about it.”
On the photo: Michael Datoo at Octagon Technology Ltd and Glynis Fox at Fox Star Media Ltd
Workshops held in the afternoon shared some great advice and techniques for those who know someone suffering mental illness and for individuals who suffer themselves. The topics were grief and loss, suicide, and anger, looking more specifically at cases in men, but a lot of the information was transferable.
The conference featured professional speakers who were sharing personal stories and running in-dept workshops in order to motivate and inspire.
Steve Judge told us his story of being told he would never walk again, following a road incident. We heard about the troubles he faced in the workplace, the gruelling physiotherapy he put himself through, and the emotion filled races he endured to achieve his dream. However, his strong will to fighting fate and creating his own destiny has led him to winning the world championship title for the para-triathlon. He stressed the importance of our primal instinct of “fight or flight” and choosing to fight through the struggles, not give in and let our problems overcome us. Steve’s story was truly inspirational!
Brad Burton was the main speaker for the event, we heard his truly motivating journey of success through making better decisions. He told us that believing in yourself and setting out the right journey and following it through was the key to taking him from addict, to entrepreneur.
Brad left school without any qualifications. He spent years on benefits and took drugs and even had gunshots fired through his window. This convinced him to leave Manchester and change his life for the better.
Landing in Somerset, alone, he gradually took control of his life through better discussions to become the owner of a multi-million-pound, national business, the #1 motivational speaker in the UK, author of four books, and an ambassador for Somerset.
All in all the conference was a huge success, inspiring, motivating and giving hope that this trend can be reversed. We can’t wait for the next event held by NWCH!
