A SUPPORT group in Glasgow, aiming to reduce male suicide, is celebrating its third birthday with the opening of a third club in the city. 

MindtheMen will be opening a new club in the West End on Monday March, 7.

Participants will be able to attend the new facility for free at the Hillhead Sports Club on Hughenden Road. 

It comes after the initiative started two clubs since 2019, a physical one near the Cowcaddens subway station at Dundasvale Community Hall, and an online club that meets via Zoom.

MindtheMen was created in memory of Grant Macdonald who lost his life to suicide in 2018. 

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The clubs are safe places where men over the age of 18 can talk about their challenges with other men in a non-clinical setting.

All MindtheMen facilitators have undertaken suicide awareness training.

Gary Macdonald, co-founder of MindtheMen, said it was great to see how much the peer-to-peer support group had grown in three years. 

He said: “We started in the West End but had to move locations during the pandemic, so it’s great to be back. 

“We are extremely grateful to the team at Hillhead Sports Club and Hillhead Jordanhill RFC for providing this venue.”

He added: “Suicide remains the biggest killer of men under 50 in Scotland, but we know we can make a real difference by giving men a safe place to talk openly about how they are feeling. 

“When people come to MindtheMen they soon realise there are other options, they are not alone and that others feel the way they do.

“That first step of attending the club can be daunting, but all new attendees are made to feel very welcome by our facilitators and long-standing members.”

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Besides its regular meetings, the club also offers its members access to several activities.

These include Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), bowling, foot-golf, yoga, cycling, hillwalking, art therapy, go-karting, football tournaments, tennis, and pizza making classes.

Its three clubs are free of charge and meet every Monday night at between 7 and 9pm.

Before the pandemic, research showed suicide number in Scotland were in decline, but this was driven by a decrease in female suicide rates. 

However, Samaritans Scotland reported that the rates in males had slightly increased.

Middle aged men remain at greatest risk, with the highest rate of suicide in Scotland for men aged 45-54, according to the charity. 

For more information visit the MindtheMen website.