Men encouraged to ‘Walk and Talk’ in new initiative
A new Walk and Talk event for men is to take place in Killykeen Forest Park this weekend.
The brainchild of Chris Heaton, it’s hoped the event will encourage all men but particularly those who are feeling low or withdrawn to get out and talk.
“Like so many people, I’ve had a pretty tumultuous two or three years,” says Chris. “I’ve been left living quite an isolated life, if you like.
“The numbers frighten the life out of me when it comes to men. You know, three out of four suicides are men, we have four times more heart disease. Those statistics are frightening.”
Taking inspiration from a similar idea in the UK, Chris decided to try and encourage local men to get together.
“A friend of mine in the UK is running a walk and talk group. It’s very successful; I think he’s got 60 members now. I’ve noted that there’s quite a lot of them popping up in the UK and I said ‘you know, we could do with that’.”
Men’s reluctance to talk and share their experiences is what encouraged Chris to set up a men’s only group. While there are supports and groups already set up across the region and wider country, he notes men can be reluctant to play a part.
“What you find is they’re primarily attended by women. Men don’t generally turn up for them.
“That’s the beauty of this. You can talk about mental health, you can talk about fishing, you can talk about bikes. You’re actually helping your mental health by doing that either way.”
Challenge
Put to him that the want to live up to the stereotype of the strong, silent Irish man might be too great to overcome for an event like this, Chris acknowledges it’s a challenge but says he’s optimistic about the prospects.
“The way I look at it is it’s not really something that can fail. You’re trying to offer people help and support. You can set it up, you can give the rallying calls and all that stuff but ultimately, people need to come.
“Look, if nobody comes I’ll have a nice walk. That’s the way I look at it.”
The walk, which is free, takes place on Sunday (July 10) in Killykeen Forest Park at 9am. Meeting point is the main carpark.