Sheffield dad sets up "Talk Club" in memory of his son
"You are not alone, you can share your burden, there are people who want to listen to you.”
A Sheffield dad is offering men across South Yorkshire a platform to speak out after his son- who took his own life- asked him to fight for better mental health support in his memory.
Former journalist and presenter Mike McCarthy lost his son Ross to suicide in February 2021.
He has now launched a weekly club for men to talk and listen at the home of Sheffield United football club, Bramall Lane.
Mike tells us: “Suicide is the biggest killer of men under 45 in this country. That’s a figure that shocked me even before we lost Ross.
“Not cancer, not road accidents, not drugs, nothing. Suicide is the main killer. So, the main threat to a young man’s life is himself.”
Following a 10 year struggle with his mental health and depression, 31-year-old Ross tragically wrote a letter to his friends and family before his death, in which he said that mental health services needed to be better.
Ross was on a waiting list for therapy and left behind a young son and fiancé.
“He wrote a farewell letter. He asked if we would campaign for better mental health support… because he felt let down… in his words, it just wasn’t there.”
Mike McCarthy– an ex-Sky News and BBC presenter from Sheffield- is encouraging men who feel they are in a dark place, or nearing one, to join the sessions and talk about how they’re feeling.
The Talk Club in Sheffield will run 6pm – 8pm every Wednesday from 8th September 2021. No booking is needed and it’s completely confidential.
“I suppose the message is – you are not alone, you can share your burden, there are people who want to listen to you.”
The Talk Club will be one of 35 groups across the country which originally started in 2019 in Bristol.