Mental Health Walk

THE MP for Southend West and Leigh organised a walk in Belfairs Woods to help men talk about mental health.
David Burton-Sampson organised the Leigh walk in conjunction with Andy’s Man Club, which is a national men’s suicide prevention charity.
The “walk and talk” event was one of more than a dozen scheduled around the country to coincide with “Blue Monday, which fell on Monday 19th January.
Labour MP Mr. Burton-Sampson spoke about the personal effect suicide had had on him, being devastated by the loss of a close friend in 2024.
“I never want to have that phone call again to tell me that a friend of mine or family member has taken their own life,” he said.
Now a men’s mental health champion in Parliament, Mr. Burton-Sampson said he was working with the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) around the Men’s Health Strategy, which the government adopted last year.
As chairman of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Male Suicide and Mental Health, he said the conversation was “definitely opening up” but that “with three out of every four suicides being men, we need to do more to drive better mental health outcomes.”
Mr Burton-Sampson added: “Great organisations like Andy’s Man Club are there to support and I am proud of the government’s new Men’s Health Strategy, which place much focus on this area.”
Aaron Davies, lead facilitator for the Andy’s Man Club’s Hockley branch, said the walk was “a leveller” for men of all ages and abilities: “A lot of the time, unfortunately, there’s a misunderstanding of what mental health is,” he said.
“Thankfully that taboo is being broken, but it’s still important to keep up that awareness.
“We have 19-year-olds talking to 73-year-olds and they just get on like a house on fire – there’s no preaching.”
Picture: David Burton-Sampson with fellow walkers.
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