After five increasingly successful years, our 2020 event was cancelled due to the pandemic, but this gave us plenty of time to come up with some fanatic new ideas and ways to make our event better than ever! We relocated from Middleton Woods in Ilkley to Golden Acre Park in Leeds, which provides us with not only a much larger venue, but also greater accessibility and facilities.
Andy’s Man Club
ANDYSMANCLUB takes its name from Andrew Roberts, a man who sadly took his own life aged 23 in early 2016. Andy’s family had no inkling that he was suffering or struggling to the extent that he would do this, and as a result looked deeper into male suicide and men’s mental health. They soon discovered that male suicide is the biggest killer of men under 54, with male mental health surrounded by well-ingrained cultural stigma in the UK.
Andy’s Mum and Brother-in-Law came up with the idea of ANDYSMANCLUB, a group where men aged 18 and above can speak openly about their mental health in a judgment-free, non-clinical environment.
Their mission is to prevent other families from going through the heartache and grief caused by suicide, by encouraging men to speak openly about their issues.
They aim to achieve this through our Monday night talking groups, and through the power of awareness, sharing stories and sharing experiences.
Groups now operate nationwide and are completely volunteer-led, with all group facilitators having first interacted with ANDYSMANCLUB when they came through the door as a service user.
Addingham Scouts
Scouting exists to actively engage and support young people in their personal development, empowering them to make a positive contribution to society. The Scouts are guided by the values of Integrity, Respect, Care, Belief and Co-operation. Primary activities include camping, woodcraft, aquatics, hiking, backpacking and sports.
Addingham Scouts are fundraising for a trip to Kandersteg, the International Scout Centre in Switzerland. Money raised will help with the cost towards the trip to make it more affordable for each family, and to fund additional resources needed to support young people with learning difficulties. The Scouts are also fundraising to refurbish their scout hut with better disabled access so it is accessible to all.