Six Years of ‘For Men To Talk’: One Conversation Can Save a Life

Today we celebrate the 6-year anniversary of ‘For Men To Talk’. What started as one man’s idea is now helping men across towns and counties. The mission is simple: give men a safe place to talk.

The founder, Luke Newman, knows how hard it can be to open up. He lost his mother and sister to cancer. After that, he struggled with anxiety, depression, and grief. After completing counselling and therapy, Luke had no further avenue to continue talking. He could not find a support group just for men.

Luke says, “I realised there was nowhere for men like me to go, where we could speak freely without judgement.”

So, he decided to build that space himself.

On Christmas Eve 2019, Luke created the ‘For Men To Talk’ Facebook page. It was small, but the idea was powerful. A few weeks later, on 13 February 2020, the first meeting took place at Jones’ Café in Biggleswade. Nineteen men turned up. That one meeting started a movement.

‘For Men To Talk’ is now a peer support group for men dealing with mental health problems such as anxiety, depression, and grief. It is not therapy. It is men supporting men, in a relaxed and comfortable setting. There is no pressure. You can speak, or you can just listen.

Sadly, the need for this support is huge.

Recent UK data shows that someone takes their own life every 90 minutes. One in four people have had suicidal thoughts. In 2024, there were 6,190 suicides registered in England and Wales. Of these, 4,599 were male. That means most suicides are men.

The male suicide rate in 2024 was 17.6 deaths per 100,000 people. This is almost the same as in 2023. The highest risk group is men aged 50 to 54, with a rate of 27.5 deaths per 100,000 people.

These numbers are not just statistics. They are fathers, brothers, sons, friends, and workmates. This is why ‘For Men To Talk’ matters.

Over six years, the group has grown across Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Hertfordshire, and Cheshire. Meetings now include physical meet-ups, online sessions, walking groups, and even fishing groups. The towns include:

Ampthill, Biggleswade, Blunham, Potton, Shefford, Flitwick, Sandy, St Neots, Gamlingay, Hitchin, and Stockport.

Luke sums it up best: “Sometimes all it takes is one conversation to change a life.”

If you are struggling, or know someone who is, you are not alone. Help is there.

Visit www.formentotalk.co.uk, call 07709 446480, or email luke@formentotalk.co.uk.

Six years on, ‘For Men To Talk’ continues to prove that talking really does save lives.