Men's Network ready to go extra mile for male mental health
A walk involving fundraising, male mental health and a pint of beer is set to scale the country.
The Men's Network will be taking on a 100-mile walk from Epsom in South London to Birmingham to raise funds for the Samaritans and promote the group's network for talking about male mental health.
It will also see the group, who all work for Marstons in Wolverhampton, visit pubs along the route to chat to people and raise awareness of the group's campaign to ensure men know they are never alone.
Starting on Thursday, October 19, the group will walk from the Samaritans head office in Epsom to Twickenham to Watford on the first day, then from Chesham to Bletchley on day two, Stoke Bruerne to Calcutt Locks in Warwickshire on day three and, finally, from Meadow Farm to the Pitcher and Piano in Birmingham on Sunday, October 22.
Men's Network chair Luke Hevingham said the seven participants, who have all been sponsored by Erdinger, were all from the Men's Network steering group and had taken on the challenge to highlight the state of male mental health, particularly in hospitality.
He said: "I think what we're looking to do is break the stigma and, within the business, we are looking to foster a culture whereby men feel they can open up and talk about how they are feeling and talk about their struggles and if they are in a difficult place.
"We want that support to be in place and we want people to be able to know that there is a place where they can talk so, in order to get the men of Marstons talking, we will stop at as many pubs along the way as we can to have have smart conversations with people.
"It's also about supporting and raising as much money as we can for the Samaritans, which is a fantastic charity, and we have a target of £3,000, of which we've already raised £800, so we're all feeling in good stead.
"It's a decent challenge and I do a bit of hiking with my family and find that after eight or nine miles, my knees start to ache, so we know it's going to be hard, but we have lots of great support and people joining us along the way, so we're all feeling pretty motivated."
To find more about the Men's Network and how to sponsor the team, go to facebook.com/groups/marstonsmensnetwork/
