Focus on men’s mental health at pop-up barbershop event

• blog by Dr Sarah Rees, NCMH

In the lead up to Men’s Mental Health Awareness Month, the Centre for Trials Research and National Centre for Mental Health attended an event in collaboration with Suicide and Self-Harm Prevention Cymru, The Lions Barber Collective, and Stephens and George Centenary Charitable Trust to promote men’s mental health.

Held in Dowlais Community Centre, the Men’s Wellbeing Awareness Day was open to the public, with free haircuts, refreshments, and a wide range of stands with information and resources around mental health and wellbeing.

There is still work to do

Historically, men have been viewed as a hard demographic to reach with messages about mental health. Although this has seen some change over time, figures from the Office for National Statistics still show that three-quarters of suicides are by men.

Dr Sarah Rees, public involvement lead at the NCMH, explained: “When we’re talking about men’s mental health, suicide awareness and prevention is a huge part of that.”

Prevention is something that Tom Chapman, founder of The Lions Barber Collective, is passionate about. The Lions Barber Collective is an international group of barbers who have undergone training in mental health first aid, and offers pop-up events aimed at men in their local environment to provide a safe space to talk about mental wellbeing. The barber gave a talk at the beginning of the event to fellow barbers, as well as hairdressers, tattooists and beauticians, in the hope of inspiring them to take up mental health first aid training.

Dr Claire Nollett from the Centre for Trials Research evaluated clients’ experiences on the day with the barbers. “The aim of the event was to give men a chance – that they might not otherwise have – to talk about their emotional wellbeing and mental health to the barbers, who would then be able to signpost them to available support.”

A positive impact on the local community

Men of all ages attended the event, and partnership groups reported that there was a positive impact on the local community through the many conversations that took place over the day around mental health and wellbeing.

The day showed how bringing statutory services, charities and research centres together to highlight such an important issue maximised the benefits for all involved, laying the foundations for future events and collaborations going forward.

Both the Centre for Trials Research and NCMH teams hope to see you at another event soon!