A GROUP of men from Penarth have joined together to walk and talk about their mental health.

Tom Molyneux-Wright set up Penarth Men Walking and Talking in December after suffering from anxiety and panic attacks in his early 20s.

Mr Molyneux-Wright, 31 told the Penarth Times he started the group to help other men to open about their mental health struggles.

He said: “There is a national charity called Men Walking and Talking with currently 17 walks across the UK and before Christmas, I started the Penarth group.

Penarth Times: Tom MW far left set up the group to help men talk about their Mental health. in the picture with tom is Al in red coat, Ben and Tom. Picture: Tom MWTom MW far left set up the group to help men talk about their Mental health. in the picture with tom is Al in red coat, Ben and Tom. Picture: Tom MW (Image: Tom MW)“It's an opportunity for men to walk for an hour, once a week on a Tuesday evening as men need them to talk to each other and support each other's mental health.

“It's exclusively for men to talk about their mental health and this is the one place they can do that; we have done ten weeks and it's continuing to grow.”

So far there are 15 members of the group which meets at the Penarth Cliff Parade car park

Mr Molyneux-Wright spoke of how he would have benefitted from a similar group when going through mental health struggles, and wants to raise the profile of getting men talking.

Penarth Times: Penarth Walk and Talk group. Picture: Tom MWPenarth Walk and Talk group. Picture: Tom MW (Image: Tom MW)

 

He added: “I won't shy away from saying I used to experience bad mental health, I had panic attacks a lot during my 20s which impacted my life for three to four years.

“I lost weight and didn’t socialise; I am past that now but there are times I felt that I could have benefitted from a space like that to turn up and chat with other guys about these things.

“This group is a space where people can talk about their mental health if they want to, or it could be a recreational walk for the company without talking about health, it is a safe space for men to talk about any sort of issues.”

The Penarth Men Walking and Talking Group meets every Tuesday at 7pm for a one-hour walk.

Time to Talk Day is tomorrow, Thursday, February 1 and it’s the nation's biggest mental health conversation and a time for friends, families, communities, and workplaces to talk, listen and change lives.