Men'S Action Network

'tis the season to be jolly...but in case you find yourself not in a good place there are people you can call. Although our offices are closed from Thursday 22nd December at 5pm until 9am Tuesday 3rd January, Lifeline and The Samaritans continue to operate 24hrs a day over the Christmas and New Year period. Both are freephone numbers and can be dialled from landlines and mobiles:
LIfeline 0808 808 8000 Samaritans 116123
... May we take this opportunity to wish all our Facebook friends, colleagues and clients a very Merry Christmas and peaceful New Year.
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Hi. Just letting you all know about the Men's Action Network Bond Night. Saturday 16th April. Its a BOND Night with 4 course meal and free entry into a prize draw. Music is by Legacy and its in the City Hotel. Tickets are £50 each and all proceeds are going to the charity. We are appealing to the business community to 'Purchase a Table'. Each table has 10 seats available. Please contact the office if you have any questions or wish to purchase tickets.

A bit more on our news. Men’s Action Network is one of three projects working with families in the north west that have been awarded grants totalling £2,091,251 from the programme.
We have been awarded a grant to work with Fermanagh Women’s Aid on the five-year Fathering Families project. It is supporting families who may have experienced issues including poverty, separation, divorce, addiction and domestic violence in the Derry/Londonderry, Enniskillen, Dungiven, Magherafel...t and Omagh areas to be healthier, happier and stronger.
The project is working with a range of other agencies and activities include parenting and communication skills, peer support, play and art therapy and signposting to other services.
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We can finally tell you. MAN has received BIG lottery funding that will secure its future for the next five years. We are elated with the news and cant think the Big Lottery Fund enough for their support.

Tomorrow is the big day. We will share our news with you all. @BIGNIonline showing some interest - wonder why?

Ok we can say a little more. On Friday MAN will be able to announce ‘BIG’ news that will make a monumental difference. A clue in in there :)

We have heard something amazing today. We are so excited about a big announcement BUT we can’t talk about until Friday :(

In the first of our series of things to try, to help reduce stress, postings, we'll be looking at 'Taking Time Out'. If your first reaction is something like 'I haven't got time this that', maybe you should... Missed the intro article 'Stress'? See our posting from the 14/07/15.
Taking Time Out Taking time out will not solve the issue(s) that are causing the stress but can help you get through a situation better. In the short term, try to spend a few moments away from a stres...sful situation. Easier said than done sometimes but a few moments may be all you need. If at work, take yourself away from the job to a quiet space – this could even be the loo, or pull the work van over and park up.
Try the following relaxation technique;
Practicing deep breathing meditation The key to deep breathing is to breathe deeply from the abdomen, getting as much fresh air as possible in your lungs. When you take deep breaths from the abdomen, rather than shallow breaths from your upper chest, you inhale more oxygen. The more oxygen you get, the less tense, short of breath, and anxious you feel. • Sit comfortably with your back straight. Put one hand on your chest and the other on your stomach. • Breathe in through your nose. The hand on your stomach should rise. The hand on your chest should move very little. • Exhale through your mouth, pushing out as much air as you can while contracting your abdominal muscles. The hand on your stomach should move in as you exhale, but your other hand should move very little. • Continue to breathe in through your nose and out through your mouth. Try to inhale enough so that your lower abdomen rises and falls. Count slowly as you exhale.
If you find it difficult breathing from your abdomen while sitting up, try lying on the floor. Put a small book on your stomach, and try to breathe so that the book rises as you inhale and falls as you exhale. (From ‘Relaxation Techniques for Stress Relief’ – HelpGuide.org)
In the longer term this and other relaxation techniques can be built into your day as part of a healthier living regime.
Click on the links below for further information on Relaxation and tips you can use every day. http://www.get.gg/docs/Relaxation.pdf
For an audio file taking you through a short, breathing based, relaxation exercise, from the Mental Health Foundation. You do not need iTunes to download this track. http://www.mentalhealth.org.uk/…/stress -relaxation-quick-f…/
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In our first in a series of topics affecting men's health we'll be covering stress. This article is not designed to replace medical advice.
Let’s face it; stress is part of everyday life for most of us. But often we can let stress build up without knowing it or even by saying to ourselves things like, ‘everybody else deals with it, so why can’t I?’ Not dealing with stress appropriately can lead to difficulties at home, work and other social situations. But how do you know y...ou’re ‘stressed out’ and not just having a bad day? Well, do any of the following signals ring true?
• Regularly having difficulty getting to sleep or waking up early and therefore tired during the day • Having mood swings • Eating less or indeed eating more than usual, especially comfort foods • Feeling you don’t have the energy to do anything outside your normal routine any more • Getting forgetful or other people pointing out you are forgetting things more than before • Feeling tense, anxious or useless • Finding yourself using more than usual alcohol, prescribed and non-prescribed drugs • Finding you are getting back pain, indigestion, or stomach complaints you can’t explain • Finding yourself getting headaches or even migraines
So what do you do about it? Nothing? Avoid the subject? Say to yourself, ‘It’ll be better when I get this week over with’? Or ‘Everyone’s in the same boat these days, they just get on with it, so I should’. Avoiding doing anything about your stress levels can easily make things seem worse. So is doing nothing really an option?
Admitting to yourself you are ‘stressed out’ is a sign of strength, doing something positive about it, is a sign of courage.
There are straightforward things you can do yourself to reduce your stress levels, including; • Taking time out • Unhelpful thinking • Exercise • Sleeping well • Eating better • Cutting down or out the unhealthy stuff • Talking to someone
Another key factor will be Identify the causes.
Sort the possible reasons for your stress into those with a practical solution, those that will get better anyway given time, and those you can’t do anything about. Try to let go of those in the second and third groups – there is no point in worrying about things you can’t change or things that will sort themselves out.
We’ll be publishing posts on these self-help topics in the coming days and encourage you to try them. Remember, is doing nothing an option? Don't forget to share this with your Facebook friends.
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We're starting a series of information posts soon, on health topics that can have a negative impact on lives, with some self-help techniques. They are not designed to replace any advice received from medical practitioners or to discourage anyone from visiting their GP with any medical concerns. The first of these will be on STRESS. As always, we welcome feedback.

Following on from Men's Health Week, click on the link below for FAQs about health issues affecting men, from the Men's Health Forum. Please share.
https://www.menshealthforum.org.uk/male-h ealth