I have an addiction to LEGO, so I thought ‘how can I incorporate that into my work…with a Men’s Health Forum document about how to make men’s mental health service, that gave me the idea of putting ManSpace together.
Last week we held the annual University Mental Health Day, with stakeholders from across the town and county and UON teams providing advice, signposting, freebies and fun activities related to mental health.
One of the UON staff members there was Counsellor Danny Davidson. In this podcast episode, Danny talks about what inspired him to take up counselling from a personal interest to a professional commitment and that led him to create ManSpace at University of Northampton.
Noticing that the Counselling team saw more female students, Danny looked into setting up a dedicated, regular, safe space for male students (and staff).
The aims are simple – ManSpace is an opportunity for them to meet up, relax, play arcade and board games, and if they feel comfortable, having a conversation about their mental health and wellbeing.
ManSpace is held from 2pm-4pm on the first Wednesday most months of the year and all male students and staff are welcome to drop-in.
Danny and Tracey also discuss how ManSpace is received by students and a former student, Niall Redmond, who now works at the University as a Customer Service Assistant, joins the later part of the conversation.
He talks with Tracey – a mother to four men/young men – about supporting ManSpace as an attendee, his own mental health and why initiatives such as ManSpace are important.