men2men at a glance!
men2men is a Hywel Dda Health Board funded unique service for men, led by men. We have in July 2023 secured a new 4 year contract! We engage men around Carmarthenshire, Pembrokeshire and Ceredigionshire to set up activity groups to draw in local men.
Such shared activities can be fun and enable men to connect with others, generating a sense of belonging, fellowship and a space in which they may feel comfortable to talk about how they really are.
We help group leaders plan their activity group and provide direct support in starting and running them. Some of these men are volunteering significant time and really are community champions.
We also engage and support volunteers around our area to buddy other isolated men. This contact for men, particularly those more isolated during the lockdown has proved to be crucial.
men2men train men to lead men's sharing circles. These circles offer much needed, simple, permissive spaces in which men can share how they are really feeling. The feedback we are getting from men has been very moving as they experience other men openly talking about themselves. We incorporate sharing circles in most of the activities we offer.
We create men's wellbeing hubs across West Wales. Our main sheds CardiShed and HwbTywiHub are well resourced hubs in large detached premises in Cardigan and Carmarthen. They offer offer a wide variety of woodturning, pyrography, woodworking, craft and emotional support sessions. They support men making and sustaining big changes in the way they live. We have in 2023 set up and will be developing further another main hub HaverHub in Haverfordwest.
We have set up other more independent mens's shed's in Hakin, Burry Port, Kilgetty, and Milford.
We also offer men Ecotherapy at our well established Ffwrdgain woodland centre near Carmarthen on Fridays, a new venture at the Hangout on Tuesdays near Ammanford and will soon be developing more outdoors working near Cardished, in Cardigan.
We develop roles for new men as quickly as possible at our various hubs.