Welcome to Episode 39 of the Business Lockdown.
Every two hours in the UK, a man will take his own life. Suicide is a global problem, and in the UK, Suicide is the biggest cause of death for men under 45. On today’s episode of the business lockdown, we talk suicide with Leon McQuade of Andy’s Man Club, a mental health charity that encourages its members to speak up and talk to one another about their mental health issues. The stigma around mental health is slowly changing, as men are less subject to the burden and expectation of being told to ‘man up’. However, the issue of mental health is still one of massive proportions, and the statistics speak for themselves.
We talk to Leon about how he became involved in Andy’s Man Club, a far cry from his background in IT, with his co-owned business Think Cloud Inc. We cover how he chose to follow his true source of happiness rather than becoming more caught up in the business lifestyle and chasing materialism rather than looking at what he truly wanted to experience. Leon resigned when he realised he wanted to take his kids to school, rather than buying a Rolex or chasing expensive cars.
We can become inspired from this story and it should serve as a powerful reminder; we need to take a step back. We can keep our mental health in check by thinking about what is important to us, and through strength, determination, and each other’s support we can achieve what is important to us.
Andy’ Man Club provides a safe space for men to talk about their mental health and about suicide; we want to extend this space to our community. If you are affected by any of the issues raised in today’s episode, you can visit Andy’s Man Club here:
@andysmancub
@Hullandysmanclub
@andysmanclubuk
@HullAMC
#ANDYSMANCLUB
View Leon’s Platforms here:
www.think-cloud.co.uk
@ThinkCloudIncLtd
@think_cloud_inc_ltd
@ThinkCloudInc
YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCbP212VrmTIeNeOFp1gOyug
@ThinkCloudInc
Pig Wrestling Podcast
https://www.think-cloud.co.uk/pigwrestlingpodcast/
@PigWrestlingPodcast
@pigwrestlingpodcast
References
Pig Wrestling: The Brilliantly Simple Way To Solve Any Problem...and Create the Change You Need, By Pete Lindsay and Dr Mark Bawden.
https://bit.ly/PigWrestlingByPeteLindsayAndMarkBawden
Support and Helplines
Samaritans – for everyone (UK)
Call 116 123
Email jo@samaritans.org
Campaign Against Living Miserably (CALM) – for men (UK)
Call 0800 58 58 58 – 5pm to midnight every day
Visit the webchat page: https://www.thecalmzone.net/help/webchat/
Papyrus – for people under 35 (UK)
Call 0800 068 41 41 – Monday to Friday 9am to 10pm, weekends and bank holidays 2pm to 10pm
Text 07860 039967
Email pat@papyrus-uk.org
Childline – for children and young people under 19 (UK)
Call 0800 1111 – the number will not show up on your phone bill
Befrienders – (Global)
http://www.befrienders.org
