The Menfulness Podcast

CONTENT WARNING: Suicide/Grief. On World Suicide Prevention Day 2024 we got together with Alex Lancaster and Victoria Taylor from the Charlie Dallas Lancaster Foundation, Jack Woodhams, Founder and Trustee for Menfulness and Frankie Sewell, one of our members and volunteers to talk about one of the most stigmatised subjects in our society, suicide. We talk to Alex and Victoria about Charlie, what...

TRIGGER WARNING: Suicide/Grief It's International Women’s Day and we are glad to be joined by Victoria and Alex of the Charlie Dallas Lancaster Foundation. Two women who have been instrumental in the Menfulness journey and two sisters dealing with the tragic loss of their brother Charlie to suicide in August 2020.  We talk about what it was like to lose Charlie, how being sisters allowed them...

The first Menfulness Video Podcast! All five Menfulness trustees (From left to right) Mike Hewitt, Matty Lewis, Sam Watling, Dan Braidley and Jack Woodhams, answer questions from charity members and the public about what Menfulness means for them and what it takes to run a growing charity supporting men with their mental and physical health. MENFULNESS MERCH - https://menfulness.myshopify.com/ The...

Today we speak to Mark Sullivan. Mark is an Army veteran, turned Personal trainer, turned University Lecturer. His path through the Army is a fascinating one eventually leading to a role in the TV series Lads Army and career defining moments as part of the Queen’s bodyguard for Her Majesty’s funeral and King’s Bodyguard for his Majesty’s coronation. This conversation is full of insight on life, fi...

Trigger Warning  - Bereavement/Anxiety/Suicide Content Warning - Swearing Today we're lucky enough to have Al Chambers with us. Al is owner of Legions Gym and runs the monthly Menfulness Boxing sessions. He's a boxing coach, a counsellor, a father of three and an all round lovely bloke. Al shares how he has built his business from a dream up, the importance of learning how to lose well, an...

Trigger Warning  - Depression/Anxiety/Suicide Content Warning - Swearing Today we speak to Chris Klays who is Systems change lead for mental health charity York Mind. Chris talks to us about his chat chit podcast (see below for links), why pigeons and jam can both be good for your mental health and how his role involves working with young people to figure out how they want to look after their ment...

Trigger Warning  - Suicide/grief loss Content Warning - Swearing We've got the lovely Leo for you in today's conversation. We discuss what ADHD has meant for him, both now since his recent diagnosis but also how that's factored into understanding his life as a whole. We hear about how it's affected his relationships and education as well as his feelings of alienation in a world not...

Trigger Warning  - Suicide/child bereavement We're glad to have Isa Celik with us for today's episode. He tells us about what Menfulness means to him, as well as taking us on his journey from growing up without power or water in the mountains of Turkey, to now running his own tile restoration business and how those experiences have shaped who he is and how he parents. It's a fascinatin...

Trigger Warning - Suicide attempts/eating disorders/bereavement/alcohol misuse/drug misuse/abuse Content Warning - Swearing/Assault DONATE TO MENFULNESS YORK 10K - https://justgiving.com/campaign/Menfulness10K2023 Today we're talking to Adam Pike. This episode was originally recorded to be released during alcohol awareness week as we delve into Adam's experiences of addiction, relationship...

Trigger Warning - Poverty/Self Harm/Bereavement/Suicide Content Warning - Swearing Introducing Adam Jones in this huge and brilliant episode! Adam talks about his upbringing, from living in poverty in rural Northumberland, making friends at Leeds Uni into employment, relationships and parenthood. Adam's a wonderful speaker and paints a vivid picture of his childhood as well as how he came to love...

Trigger Warning - Eating Disorder/Self Harm/Bereavement Content Warning - Swearing Simon Long joins us for Part Two of the LONGest podcast yet and we're honoured to hear him speak. In this episode we learn about the breakfast club he’s running for us, as well as so much more of Simon’s story including why Menfulness is so important to him. It's a brave conversation and we touch on some tri...

Trigger Warning - Suicide Content Warning - Swearing Simon Long joins us for part one of the LONGest podcast yet! Simon is a Menfulness expert. He’s been to pretty much all our events, runs a few himself and is an all round lovely chap. This turned into such a long one we decided to split it half! This first episode is going to be great if you’re interested in what we do, what our events are like...

Trigger Warning - Bereavement In this episode we learn from Professor Paul Galdas. He’s a professor of Nursing at the University of York who has spent most of his working life focused on improving men's access to healthcare. He’s currently got funding from Movember to work on research in Behavioural Activation for men in frontline roles in the NHS. We hear about his important work, talk about...

Trigger Warning - Suicide/Eating Disorder Content Warning - Swearing Today we speak to one of our volunteers James Rickett. He runs our monthly Retro Gaming Night at The Crooked Tap as well as being global lead for anti-money laundering and sanctions compliance for the International Compliance Association. We talk about his important work, the impact he’s had on Menfulness and that Menfulness has...

HELLO AND HAPPY NEW YEAR TO YOU!  Thank you for joining us. We are grateful for every single one of you who tunes in to hear us speak our truth! We know it's not a happy new year for everyone. If you or someone you know is going through a rough time right now then get in touch via https://www.menfulness.org or come to an event via https://www.meetup.com/menfulness!  We are absolutely sto...

Today we're grateful to have Mike Hewitt joining us. Mike is a founder of Menfulness as well as our treasurer. He comes to us today to talk about what Menfulness means to him, how he came up with the name and how it helps him with life's challenges. We also learn about how the relationships with his family and friends have helped make him the man he is today! (We also find out about what #Friendsh...

TW - Suicide CW - Swearing  *  Today we're talking to Nick Sinclair. Nick is a Public Health Professional and a qualified Counsellor. He's also one of the stars of a new film which raises awareness of suicide called WHY (https://whysuicideprevention.co.uk/) brought to us by the wonderful folks at York Ending Stigma (https://www.yorkcvs.org.uk/york-ending-stigma/).  Nick speaks calml...

TW - Suicide CW - Swearing * In this conversation I talk to Frankie Sewell, a member and supporter of Menfulness. Frankie kindly told us he was ready to share his story in the hope it might help others who are going through a tough time right now. His sage advice that 'This too shall pass' is something that runs through this conversation.  We talk honestly and openly about suicide and Frankie...

Trigger Warning - Grief/Bereavement  Content Warning - Swearing  *  "Coaching is unlocking a person's potential to maximise their own performance. It is helping them to learn rather than teaching them" - Sir John Whitmore  A more in depth definition of Coaching from 'Real Coaching For You'.  Today we're speaking to a passionate coach and Menfulness advocate, Wayne Cullen. We get into coaching and...

TW - Baby Loss/Bereavement * It's hard to state just how awesome Pete Quinn really is. He's a consultant, coach, speaker and leader. He's an Inclusion Consultant and he's out there working in the education, tech, corporate and arts sectors making meaningful change and harnessing the power of diversity. Pete's consultancy strap-line is 'change through collaboration' and in this episode we lear...

TW - Drugs (Overdose)/Bereavement/Suicide CW: Swearing * Menfulness member and volunteer Aidan shares some stories from his new auto-biographical podcast, 'Days of My Life'.  Aidan's journey has taken him from 90s dance-floors, drug dealing and ditches of Nottingham, to the beaches of India, self-actualisation and finding his purpose to help others.  Aidan has been through more in his te...

We're very lucky to have Sinead from Serendipity Counselling on the podcast!  Sinead has been a constant source of guidance and supported Menfulness as we've grown into a charity. She makes sure all of our members have access to top quality counselling quickly and effectively. We learn about Serendipity, what counselling is and what it means for Menfulness.  If you are thinking about cou...

TW: Suicide/Bereavement. CW: Swearing. * In this conversation we speak to Matty, Menfulness' self-proclaimed poster-boy and all round positive human being. We learn how gratitude impacts Matty's life and how experiences with his own parents have shaped the man he is today.  Thank you for joining us! The Menfulness mantra is #DontManUpSpeakUp and we invite you to join us in kindness, honesty and vu...

CW: Swearing * Today we're speaking to 'Jean Claude Van' Dan about how discovering martial arts changed his life for the better. Dan has a very unique story and opens up about having Bell's Palsy in his twenties which massively affected his mental health, but ultimately became the inspiration for setting up Menfulness. Thank you for joining us on our journey! Our mantra is #DontManUpSpeakUp and we...

TW: Suicide CW: Swearing WELCOME to the first ever episode of The Menfulness Podcast - It's a real inspiring one to start us off!  We're starting right from the beginning... Our founder Jack shares how he came to start Menfulness and what it's all about, how he copes with his daughter Poppy's epilepsy on a day to day basis and what's helped make him into the caring soul he is today.  Tha...