It’s ok to talk…

It is our obligation to ensure we address mental health and support our team of brilliant people, company-wide, regardless of gender. But as a construction company, with a predominantly male workforce, we're encouraging our team to open up on-site and have these essential conversations. We're on a journey in providing mental health support and this is just the beginning...

We offer mental health training to all of our employees and have recently partnered with Andy’s Man Club to introduce our team to the concept #itsoktotalk

We got together on-site and sat down with plenty of coffee and a big box of biscuits on a rainy Thursday morning in Hull, to hold our first Andy’s Man Club session with Paul Longley.

After just 5 mins into the session, the entire room was moved by the story of Andy’s Man Club and how Luke Ambler turned the tragic loss of his brother-in-law in 2016 into an inspirational journey. Alongside Andy’s mum to prevent other families from having to go through what they did.

Here’s what we learned:

Life can be hard, sometimes it’s big things, sometimes it’s just little things. In society there are many stigmas around men talking about their problems and opening up about their feelings. These stigmas are weakness, burden and judgement.

But talking can help.

Because it may not always be yourself that needs to hear these things. Opening up with a colleague, a friend, a person at the bus stop, or sharing a post on social media, whoever or wherever you are, this exchange, this interaction, this message, may just help someone else, who don’t know - or realise - they need help.

“I knew the session with Andy’s Man Club would be useful for our guys on-site but I didn’t prepare myself for the impact it would have on us all.” - Beth, Business Development Manager.

The invaluable work that Andy’s Man Club do is absolutely incredible. We couldn’t be prouder of our team and our on-site partners who took part in this session.

In just 6 years, the team at Andy’s Man Club have set up 110 clubs across the UK - this week over 2,200 men attended these clubs. These figures highlight and put into perspective how integral it the need for men to have a safe space to talk, without judgement is.

Something as simple as a conversation can and does save lives.

A huge thank you to Paul Longley and the charitable team at Andy’s Man Club. From our team to yours, we appreciate everything you do. Thank you for visiting our site, and opening up the doors and starting the conversation on men’s mental health with our brilliant people.

If you’re struggling with mental health and need support, you can reach out to Andy’s Man Club by visiting the website here.