New campaign to turn the light on mental health for Dorset men
'Light on' wants men to 'go beyond the banter' and normalise conversations about mental health
A new campaign is shining a light on men's mental health in Dorset.
The 'Light On' campaign to tackle the stigma surrounding conversations about mental health and emotional struggles, particularly among men.
It's being backed a collection local businesses, the NHS, Public Health Dorset and Bournemouth University.
Businesses, individuals, charities and sports club are being urged to join the campaign as it aims to train ordinary people to reach men with the message.
Andrew Coleman is the campaign's founder. He said:
"Mental ill-health in Dorset has been increasing, especially with the pandemic. Myself and others that are ambassadors for Dorset Mind were asked to come together and have a bit of a think of if there are other ways we can start talking about mental ill-health, and see if we can make a difference.
"How we aim to help is to start to remove the taboos and stigma and sometimes the permissions around mental health, making it more open and accessible in different environments.
"So say, the workplace, community settings, families, friendship groups. The aim is to grow exposure in being comfortable in talking about mental health."
Mental Health champions and ambassadors will be trained as part of the campaign to encourage those conversations.
The campaign was built using research from panels of men across Dorset who shared how they felt about talking about mental health. They helped to shape the campaign’s focus on making sure that men knew how to talk as well as when to talk.
Andrew added:
"One if four adults will experience mental ill-health in any given year in England. Our ambition is to give any one of those four the ability to feel more confident engaging around mental health and well being.
"Hopefully those three can help the one in improving their ill-health."
If you're interested in joining the campaign and taking part, you can find out how here.