We are a grass roots, preventative men’s mental health and community building charity. Our mantra is Healthy Men, Healthy Masculinities, Healthy Communities.
The current national conversation calls on men to act, and to learn and model healthy masculine behaviours. We provide a safe place where they can practise doing this.
The Men’s Table is a monthly gathering of men who meet to listen, talk and share the highs and lows of their lives over a simple meal. The Men’s Table is a safe emotional space where peers can talk to peers. Tables are established on a set of guidelines we call The Fundamentals and the Safety Net. These guidelines..
- help men to listen, to talk about how they feel and to share. We encourage men to talk about their feelings, not about their views.
- support the healthy functioning of the Table over the long term.
- define the limits of peer support, and identify how professional help can be engaged for a man in crisis
The first Men’s Table was started in June 2011 and has been running ever since with 12 men meeting on the third Wednesday of every month. In early 2019 two founding members, Ben Hughes and David Pointon, decided to start more Tables to help more men.We now have over 600 men meeting once a month sitting at 67+ Tables.
We were commissioned by The National Mental Health Commission to complete our Model of Care 2020 and Couch to Community 2021 document with research and evidence on the impact of the model. The foreword is written by The Hon. Malcolm Turnbull, and it can be downloaded from our website.
Our work with local communities is all about grass roots activation. We build Tables through good introductions to local groups and community champions, both men and women, who can then refer specific men they know.
We engage men with a supportive approach, enabling them to learn more and opt in if they see it as a good fit for them. The first step for all new men is attending an Entree event. These are information sessions where men meet other interested men and learn about the Fundamentals and Safety Net and the next steps to join a Table. Our conversion rate from an Entree to a man sitting at a Table is over 90%…
Details and invitation here; https://themenstable.org/gawler/
