Fleetwood Men’s Shed group in graduation booster

A certificate ceremony held at the Beehive Centre, home of the Fleetwood Men’s Shed group, saw some of the group receiving Family Coaching Certificates.

It was the stigma and misery of suicide which moved Tony O’Neill to set up the peer support group to try, in some small way, to combat it.

Fleetwood man Tony had been shocked after a number of young men in the town, including his own friends, took their own lives.

He set up Fleetwood’s Men’s Shed group, one of many similar groups which are now springing up across the country, in October 2018.

Tony believes that men, in particularly, have struggled to open up about their issues, bottling things up because it is in some way “unmanly” to talk about their own feelings.

But he says things are slowly changing and help is now out there - for the individuals and their families.

After receiving his own certificate from Emerging Futures, a coaching course provider, Tony said: “We’re hoping to rid the stigma of mental health and male suicide, get men to open up and let them know it’s OK not be OK.

“It’s not like in the ‘Eighties when if you’d turn to your mate and say you’re not feeling so good and wanted to have a walk on the beach and take some pills, they’d tell you to shut up an get another pint.

“Help is there these days, there are place to go to now. If we can’t help you, we can signpost you to those who can.”

Tony says he was also keen to expand his own skills, so he could be better able to help others.

He said: “The Family Coaching course we did can hopefully help.

“It’s not just about working with the people who are struggling, it’s about knowing how to deal with their families – teach them how to see the signals.

“And we need to know how to give the right information and not make things worse.”

The group, including another founder member, Dave Smith, have also been working on a Mental Health First Aid course.

The graduation event saw other individuals, some from Lancaster and Morecambe, also receiving Family Coaching Certificates from Diane Sharples, of Emerging Futures, at the Beehive event.