Mens Health Week 9th - 15th June

Men’s Health Week 9-15 June

Men's Health Week is an annual awareness campaign held in the UK to raise awareness of men's health and encourage them to take care of their physical and mental well-being.

It runs this week from Monday 9 to Sunday 15 June and it is an opportunity for 54North Homes to encourage male colleagues and customers to seek help to address any health concerns they may be experiencing.

At 54North, we encourage our male colleagues to talk all year round and speak up when they are experiencing low mental health, before the problem becomes more complex. The importance of this week’s campaign is to give confidence to male colleagues that we are here to listen and support.

The Men’s Health Forum organises Men’s Health Week each year. So, why is Men's Health Week important?

The following shocking statistics emphasise why Men’s Health Week is so important:

• One man in five dies before the age of 65 (Men’s Health Forum).
• Four in five suicides are by men, with suicide the biggest cause of death for men under 35 (UK Parliament).
• According to the BUPA Wellbeing Index:

• '43% of working British men are urging their employers to provide greater mental health support.
• 50% of men have struggled with mental health difficulties at some point, yet fewer than half have sought medical advice.
• 37% of UK men admit actively hiding their mental health issues from their partners.
• 30% of men surveyed said they didn’t know where to turn for advice or support.
• 65% of employees recognise that stigma around men’s mental health remains strong.’

This week, Macmillan Cancer Support is partnering with talkSPORT and other organisations to raise awareness about cancer and encourage men to talk about their health while the NHS, local trusts, and other organisations will be hosting events and sharing resources to address mental health concerns. 

Dan Pash, Asset Sustainability Manager at 54North Homes knows only too well the importance of supporting friends and talking to each other about health concerns they may be experiencing.

His good friend and fellow cyclist was diagnosed with prostate cancer in November 2022. His friend checked in with his doctor after feeling a period of persistent lower back pain that worsened while sitting. Not thinking anything of it, his doctor referred him for a scan and it was then that he was diagnosed.

Dan said: “It was a shock to us all and something which he thought was nothing serious, turned out to be cancer. Thankfully, he had chemotherapy treatment to catch it in time without the need for surgery.

“There is a stigma that men keep things bottled up and don’t want to talk about their personal health problems but campaigns like Men’s Health Week helps to raise awareness and importance. We should have confidence to be able to talk about these things all year round, not just once per year and Karbon and 54North is fully supportive of encouraging colleagues and customers to speak up and to talk about their physical and mental well-being.”