{"id":17200,"date":"2019-02-07T08:44:02","date_gmt":"2019-02-07T08:44:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/unitelive.org\/?p=17200"},"modified":"2020-11-12T12:57:44","modified_gmt":"2020-11-12T12:57:44","slug":"it-takes-balls-to-talk-unite-time-to-talk-day","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/?p=17200","title":{"rendered":"It takes balls to talk"},"content":{"rendered":"
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At a time when suicide is the biggest killer of men under the age of 50, Unite believes on Time to Talk Day today (February 7) that it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s especially time to talk about men\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s mental health.<\/p>\n

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That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s why today Unite is promoting It Takes Balls to Talk, a men\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s mental health initiative founded three years ago that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s gone from strength to strength in helping men overcome the stigma associated with opening up about their feelings.<\/p>\n

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The campaign is the brainchild of Unite member and mental health nurse Alex Cotton, who last year received an MBE for her work.<\/p>\n

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It was on the job in her role as a part of the street triage team that she was inspired to create the initiative, Alex told UniteLive.<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bIn street triage we work with the police and the police would ask us after they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d encountered men who\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d taken their lives whether they were known to mental health services \u00e2\u20ac\u201c 75 per cent of the time they had had absolutely no contact at all,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 she said.<\/p>\n

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As Alex day in and day out bore witness to the reality behind shocking male suicide statistics, it was at a football match she attended in 2015 that the idea came to her.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bI was in the stands and the camera panned to the crowd \u00e2\u20ac\u201c the big screen lit up and all you could see was crowds and crowds of men. That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s when it clicked.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

And so the strapline and campaign \u00e2\u20ac\u0098It Takes Balls to Talk\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 was born.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It Takes Balls to Talk uses sporting themes to encourage people, particularly men, to talk about their feelings and mental health problems. The campaign group trains volunteers who go to sporting events such as football and rugby matches to break down the barriers that men so often erect in caring for their own mental health — by simply listening.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Alex developed her idea with the help of Coventry and Warwickshire Partnership NHS Trust and now the campaign has partnered with a variety of organisations including Unite, Samaritans, Mind, a number of football clubs and others.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

With Unite\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s support, the campaign has gone into male-dominated workplaces such as Rolls-Royce and Jaguar Land Rover to encourage men to open up.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bKey to our work is the power of listening,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 Alex explained, as she highlighted the t-shirts that their volunteers wear that say \u00e2\u20ac\u0098I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m a \u00e2\u20ac\u0098listening mate\u00e2\u20ac\u2122. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bIt\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s such a small thing but it can make the biggest difference \u00e2\u20ac\u201c when men are given that space to speak without fear of being stigmatised or told to \u00e2\u20ac\u0098man up\u00e2\u20ac\u2122.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It may come as a surprise to some that Alex, a woman, has become a passionate advocate for men\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s mental health \u00e2\u20ac\u201c but she doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t see it that way.<\/p>\n

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\"Alex

Unite member and mental health nurse Alex Cotton<\/p><\/div>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bI\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve seen the effects myself of a society that doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t encourage men to talk \u00e2\u20ac\u201c I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve been both professionally and personally\u00c2\u00a0bereaved by male suicide, from patients as well as\u00c2\u00a0colleagues and friends,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 she noted. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bIt Takes Balls to Talk isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t just for men \u00e2\u20ac\u201c it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s for all of us who have men in our lives who we love and care for, and that of course includes every single one of us, both male and female.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

In the workplace<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Workplaces are an important frontier for It Takes Balls to Talk and men\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s mental health initiatives in general — this is where trade unions like Unite can play a vital role, Alex explained.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bUnions are at the forefront of the biggest risk group when it comes to suicide and mental health \u00e2\u20ac\u201cworking age men. This becomes doubly pertinent when men lose their jobs or have problems at work.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bUnions have historically done so much to advance health and safety in the workplace \u00e2\u20ac\u201c practically every health and safety right and protection we have at work comes from trade unions,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 she added. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bWe must continue this legacy with mental health \u00e2\u20ac\u201c if we paid as much attention to mental health as we did physical health at work we would not be in the situation we are in today where suicide is the biggest killer of men under 50.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Alex thanked Unite for all the support it has given, without which she said It Takes Balls to Talk would not be the success it is today.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bUnite has given so much practical support from providing me with office space to giving me access into workplaces such as Rolls-Royce with the help of Unite reps.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

On Time to Talk Day today, Alex will be busy as ever \u00e2\u20ac\u201c part of her day will be spent providing a training session to Conventry City FC.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bEvery football club I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve reached out to have welcomed us,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 she noted. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bIn five or ten years\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 time, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s our aim to be in place in sporting events right across the country and in workplaces throughout industry.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a tall order to be sure, but as Alex highlighted, the smallest things \u00e2\u20ac\u201c a simple conversation \u00e2\u20ac\u201c can be the lightning rod for a movement that has a massive impact.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Find out more about It Takes Balls to Talk and how you can help here<\/a>. Need to talk to someone now? Here\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a list of resources.<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

At a time when suicide is the biggest killer of men under the age of 50, Unite believes on Time to Talk Day today (February 7) that it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s especially time to talk about men\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s mental health.   That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s why today Unite is promoting It Takes Balls to Talk, a men\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s mental health initiative founded three […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":17214,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[17],"tags":[1099,404,1101,1100],"wps_subtitle":"Unite member Alex Cotton highlights men\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s mental health on Time to Talk Day","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17200"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=17200"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17200\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25565,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17200\/revisions\/25565"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/17214"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=17200"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=17200"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=17200"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}