The Simple Secret to Men's Mental Health, Jamie Dennis meets TheTinMen

Founded at a kitchen table in Manchester in 2019, Mandem Meetup has grown into an award-winning charity supporting over 1,200 men a year across the UK.Unlike traditional mental health support, Mandem Meetup is non-clinical: meaning there is no chaise longue, no clipboard and pen, no textbooks or profound psychological frameworks, and, most importantly, no eye-wateringly high bill at the end of it.At Mandem, whilst finding none of that, you will instead see boys and men in talk circles, hiking, camping, learning bushcraft skills, whittling sticks, planting flowers, playing football and board games, going to the gym, helping the homeless or running litter picks.It is a new generation of mental health support that is entirely unfamiliar to everything that's come with it.And it works.In this podcast, TheTinMen meets Jamie Dennis, the founder and CEO of Mandem Meetup, from whose own experience of crisis the charity was born…Expect to hear Jamie's story, where it began, how he helps men from the forest to the mountain peaks, and how his new 5.5 acres of woodland has become the first nature space for men and boys' wellbeing in the country.Find Mandem Meetup here https://mandemmeetup.org/ and follow at @mandemmeetupChapters00:18 – What is Mandem Meetup?02:46 – The Five Pillars of Mandem Meetup03:19 – Working with incarcerated men04:14 – Man buns and men's circles: who are they really serving?06:58 – 'Incel national park', the UK's first outdoor space for men and boys10:41 – Why are men's spaces so important?13:59 – What is traditional therapy missing?17:37 – Do we overcomplicate men's mental health?22:14 – It's not easy, but it is simple25:03 – What would the Mandem men be doing, if not for you?29:23 – When did Mandem Meetup begin?37:34 – The importance of natural beauty and the outdoors39:25 – What do men tell you?41:02 – Men's trauma in prison46:12 – Politics vs the people49:32 – When will the men's health movement go mainstream?52:43 – What's next for Mandem Meetup?55:47 – How do men find and join Mandem Meetup?