The Community Trust alongside ANDSYMANCLUB will launch a weekly peer-to-peer support group at the SMH Group Stadium, starting on Monday, July 3.
The sessions, which will take place in the HUB, will be from 7pm to 9pm and focus on men’s mental health.
Andrea Parkinson, the Trust’s wellbeing manager, spoke to 1866 Sport about the upcoming sessions, saying: “ANDYSMANCLUB is a group that was created when a man called Andrew Roberts took his own life in 2016.
“His family set up a group where it encourages males over 18 to meet in a peer support group and just talk open and freely in a non-judgemental environment.
“ANDYSMANCLUB is known nationwide, and they work with a lot of football clubs to embed the peer support group within those clubs.”
In mid-2016, nine men met in a small room in the typical Yorkshire town of Halifax with a simple aim of talking through their issues and helping each other deal with the struggles in their lives.
All in attendance agreed there was a magic in that room that had to be shared. This was the start of a movement that has grown faster than anyone first involved could have ever imagined.
Fast forward almost seven years and ANDYSMANCLUB now has groups at over 120 locations across England, Scotland and Wales. ANDYSMANCLUB is a free-to-attend talking group that runs every Monday night at 7pm excluding on bank holidays.
Dan Rowe, regional co-ordinator for ANDYSMANCLUB, said: “ANDYSMANCLUB are delighted to be opening a peer-to-peer support group in Chesterfield, with the support of the Chesterfield FC Community Trust.
“This marks the first group we have opened in Derbyshire and is our first step into the East Midlands as a region.
“Opening a group in Chesterfield will allow us to offer support to the men of Chesterfield who are in need, and eventually look to expand into the wider Derbyshire and East Midlands region.”
For more information, or to attend ANDYSMANCLUB, please either email info@andysmanclub.co.uk or visit www.andysmanclub.co.uk.
