Bendigo men who are struggling to speak about mental health issues have a new support group to turn towards.
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Bendigo resident Amy O'Donnell started the #WeGotYouMate National Mens Support Group on Facebook last month with a simple intention.
"We just wanted to create a casual and comfortable environment for men that encourages an openness and willingness to talk about what they're going through," Ms O'Donnell said.
"We're just trying to break the stigma because so many men feel like they can't speak about things like mental health."
The #WeGotYouMate Facebook group already has more than 300 members, with its first event scheduled for late September.
"It will be a casual catch up where they can have a beer and a barbecue," Ms O'Donnell said. "It will be at the Hit Factory so there will also be some boxing involved.
"We will put together events for men each month where they can come along and have a chat and just connect with other men."
Ms O'Donnell and friend Amanda Robinson started a women's support group called #IGOTUGIRL earlier this year with the aim to educate more women about family violence and mental health services available in the region.
"People started asking if we were going to do something similar for men so that's where I got the idea from," Ms O'Donnell said.
"We've also had a lot of men asking about counselling services, so that's another thing we are going to try and do with the events.
"We will have some counsellors at the men's night, not to do counselling sessions, but to hand out cards and let the men know they are available to speak to because a lot of men just don't know where to go."
The first #WeGotYouMate event will be at 6pm on September 27 at the Hit Factory in Golden Square.
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