A CALL has been made to men in South Ayrshire to shed some of their mental burdens by attending a club specifically designed for them to give them ‘time to talk’.

Andy’s Man Club, set up in Ayr last Monday, has 50 other branches dotted around the country, but this is the first in Ayrshire.

The new branch is based in the Wellington Wellness Centre on Alloway Place and offers free-to-attend, non-professional peer-to-peer talking groups for men.

Alex McClintock is reaching out to men to come and attend the group after their opening night saw just two guys walk through the door.

Alex, who worked in the Scottish Prison Service as a Physical Education Instructor, first got involved with Andy’s Man Club after reading about them following his own battles with poor mental health and attempted suicide.

Andy’s Man Club started in Halifax almost five years ago.The club takes its name from Andrew Roberts, a man who sadly took his own life aged 23 in early 2016. Andy’s family subsequently set up the group. They’ve more than 70,000 likes on Facebook.

Alex said of the group: “AMC is a peer-to-peer support group for any man over 18 to come together in a safe non-judgemental environment to talk about issues or problems that they’ve faced or are currently facing.

“The process is about bringing men together who have been in similar situations to help each other, sharing advice on how they have dealt with difficult situations.

“All our clubs run with the same format and guidelines and anything that is said in the club stays in the club.

“I think it’s important for men to talk about their struggles to stop it building up inside. As men we don’t talk to our mates about what’s going on inside our heads in case we are seen as weak or they might be embarrassed to show emotion when in fact it takes huge courage and strength to show emotion in front of other men.”

Alex acknowledges that it can be difficult to persuade men to take that first step and so, to draw people in, there will be volunteers from AMC outside the venue on Monday nights at 7pm when the club hosts its session.

“Come along and try it, there is never any pressure to share and why not just pop along for a coffee, sit and listen to the other men and if you want to share then we will be there to listen.”