Content warning: episode contains discussions of suicide and mental ill-health
Talk Club, set up in a Bristol pub seven years ago, offers a space for men to get together and discuss their mental health. That’s something too few of us still do, as shown by the horrible statistic that in the UK, a man dies by suicide roughly every 90 minutes – the length of a football match.
With this episode recorded during Men’s Health Week, and with the World Cup bringing many men together in a highly emotional state, it seemed an appropriate time to sit down with Gavin Thorpe, one of Talk Club’s two founders.
The groups have rapidly expanded, to 150 branches across the country – and Talk Clubs now offer not just sit-downs but sessions tailored around other activities such as sports. Cable reporter Sean Morrison wrote in 2023 about his experience visiting a Talk Club in Southville, and how he moved on from initial scepticism about sitting around with other men scoring your wellbeing out of 10.
But with suicide still the biggest killer of UK men under 50, the need to chat remains urgent. Why are we men so reluctant to open up about what’s getting us down? Are Talk Club’s activities moving the needle? And do young men – far more in touch with emotions than their grandads – offer hope?
Content warning – this episode, as you might have guessed, contains discussions of suicide and mental ill health. But it’s a great chat, and by no means all doom and gloom – hope you enjoy.
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