Charity beer mats offer men mental health support

A charity has distributed 10,000 beer mats across pubs in a Staffordshire town to offer help to men coping with mental health concerns.

Man Time, based in Stone, is led by paramedic Ian Goodship and offers support, with the mats providing information about the group and other resources.

Goodship said he was inspired to run the club after suffering post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and needing help himself. His father Pete and friend Allan Hall are also involved after themselves suffering PTSD and depression.

"I was a rufty-tufty paramedic... I was the one sorting people's problems out and all of a sudden, it went 'crash'," he said. Man Time now meets once a week.

"I was carrying on,"Goodship continued. "I ended up with very intense therapy to get me back to where I am now."

He said people around him could see he was not well and describes going through a "hard time".

His father Pete said that at the time his son was "not his son", and was "stressed, angry, disorientated [and] wasn't functioning".

"He was a mess. A big, big mess," he said.

But becoming involved in the group had really helped and brought on a "massive change".

Pete said he had also "been where he was", having had PTSD himself at times during 42 years working in the ambulance service.

"I had breakdowns and all sorts. I needed help as well," he said.

"I recognised it immediately with him, but what could I do as I was in the same position as him for a long time and I didn't know which way to go."

He said he kept things to himself and did not want to show weakness, but being part of the Man Time group had made a difference them and others families.

Hall, a former nurse, said he been volunteering for the charity for about a month, having suffered with depression and anxiety.

"I saw the local group, Man Time and thought I'd give it a go... and I felt good for doing it," he said.

He said he found it friendly and recognised that he had found people he could talk to.

Goodship said the idea for the beer mats came from seeing pubs as places where families go and their message could be seen. They have distributed them to every pub in Stone.

Each mat has a QR code that takes people to the Man Time website and offers links to other sources of help.

"The thought was you put them on every table in the pub and one person picks them up and gets the help they want, that's it. That's what we want," Goodship added.

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