A Thursday-night walk in Solihull is helping men find connection and conversation through the national Men Walking & Talking network. Reporter Richard Gullick joins the group’s deputy leader and attendees to explore how routine, movement and peer support are improving mental wellbeing without fanfare.
00:01Every Tuesday and Thursday night a group of men gather at the gates of Malvourne and Bruton Park in Solihull.
00:07No forms, no fees, just an hour's walk and a chat.
00:10What began as a single walk in Telford has become a network stretching across England,
00:16giving men a reason to get out of the house and into conversation.
00:19I know there's been some studies and that about it's easier for men to open up when walking.
00:24I think when you're sat down or you're face to face with someone, I don't know if some people find it potentially a little bit maybe confrontational
00:33or maybe there might be some judgment or something.
00:37But when you're walking and you're side by side and you're concentrating on the path in front of you, I think it's a bit more liberating.
00:44The idea came from founder Dan Reed who turned his own battle with anxiety into something anyone could join.
00:50Since then, Men Walking and Talking has grown into more than 40 walks across 21 counties, all volunteer-led, all about routine and connection.
01:00Such a diverse group.
01:02We've got men of all ages from their early 20s all the way up to, I think our eldest walker was 88, which was amazing.
01:14I was very privileged to walk with that gentleman when he came.
01:17But there's also all ethnicities, backgrounds have come and we all walk and talk and learn from each other as well.
01:26For newcomers, the first step can be the hardest.
01:29Turning up alone, unsure what to say, only to find that silence is fine.
01:34Someone always walks beside you.
01:36I think everyone who I've, there was only sort of 10, 15 of us at the very beginning, everyone who just come, just was very chatty, was very relaxed.
01:47They talked about stuff if they wanted to or sometimes you would just go out and have a walk and chat about football or chat about something else.
01:55But it was just that relaxed atmosphere that you didn't feel pressured.
01:59My life was literally going to work, going to the gym, going home and then literally sitting in my bedroom for the whole kind of evening.
02:10So I didn't kind of have any outlets.
02:12Regulars say it's not a miracle cure, more like a weekly reset.
02:16Same time, same place, whatever the weather.
02:19Small talk, big subjects and the comfort of knowing someone will notice if you don't turn up.
02:25You know, there's so many like-minded guys that come out on the walk for various different reasons.
02:30It could be for the social aspect, a bit of exercise or some of the guys might have, you know, gone through some recent trauma.
02:40You know, I've probably gone through a combination of all three.
02:43Through that general chat, they get to feel more relaxed about what's going on.
02:46So that's what makes me come back.
02:49And that's what makes me go and join the Wells Group when I moved down to Somerset.
02:53It was just the fact that I like that Conranbridge ship and the fact that there's no pressure in what you're doing.
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