Who we are

For Our Men™ is a community space dedicated to educating and discussing men’s mental and emotional health (without the bullshit) in the workplace.

With every suicide costing the UK economy approximately £1.25 million and 75% of all suicides attributed to men – a ratio echoed in both Australia and America – (approximately 13.5 a day or 94 men a week in the UK) with every suicide said to affect around 167 people, it’s time we start to understand how different men’s mental and emotional health is within the wider societal discussion and offer realistic advice and support.

Whilst there has been a great surge in campaigns and discussions relating to men’s mental health over recent years, many charities and workplaces focus on the message that men need to talk whereas For Our Men subscribes to the view that, whilst talking is a great start, we have to get better at knowing how to listen and respond. If we don’t know how to listen, talking is irrelevant.

The workplace is said to be the most important factor in a man’s mental health (and we certainly spend enough time doing it each week) yet less than 50% of men are asked how they are in the workplace and less than 60% of male managers feel confident having mental health discussions. Anyone else see a problem with that, especially within male-dominated workforces? Talk about a vicious cycle! That’s why it’s vital we get workplaces to understand how different men’s mental health is and create effective wellbeing practices and support for them even when that workplace or sector is predominantly male lead.  

For Our Men comes from a lived experience approach (with dark humour and many swear words) to men’s mental and emotional health which recognises that men don’t have to be diagnosed with an illness to struggle with their mental health or die by suicide and that for many, shame and social factors are their biggest killers.

Here at For Our Men, we aim to educate public and private sector organisations on the differences and realities of men’s mental health and advise on how to cut the bullshit and deliver wellbeing initiatives that our men want and need in their language and on their terms to understand their own and each other’s mental and emotional health better.  

For the last 18 months For Our Men, through the consultancy Reclaiming Your Future, has been focusing on Blue Light Services (particularly police) helping men get the national recognition and support that they need from services and leaders and even being credited with changing and saving some of their lives and officers using our work to save the lives of the public that they serve.

This website and its objectives (which you can read about here) which include a national network for men in police were borne from frustration of slow, bureaucratic processes and obstacles within Blue Light Services. Instead of waiting for everyone to get their collective shit together on a national level, For Our Men was developed to deliver the education and informal, peer support our men want and need so they feel comfortable in seeking more formal support if needed. 

Our work is dedicated to all the men we have lost to mental ill-health and suicide and all those we still might.

p.s. you may notice a blue and white “X” in the bottom right-hand corner of every page; that is a safety exit button. That means that when you’re reading particularly sensitive articles or pages, if someone is getting close to your screen and you don’t want them to see what you’re viewing, just click the button and it will direct you to Google!