Protagonist of acclaimed Channel 4 documentary ‘Stranger on a Bridge’, Jonny Benjamin, will give a talk tomorrow evening on male mental health.
Benjamin will join students and members of the public in the Alumni Auditorium at 6.30pm to share the inspirational story of his global search to find the stranger who talked him out of jumping off Waterloo Bridge in 2008.
Part of Mind Your Head Society’s Men’s Mental Health month, all proceeds collected from the talk will be donated to Mind, a charity focused on psychological wellbeing, and Exeter City Football Club’s (ECFC) ‘Football in the Community’ charity.
The event, organised in association with Ashford’s Solicitors and ECFC, comes following the declaration of male suicide rates as a national public health emergency in recent weeks. At present, suicide is the biggest single killer of males under 45, taking 4,623 lives in 2014.
A recent Exeposé investigation found that over 45 per cent of male students in Exeter feel that their gender is a barrier to seeking mental health help. Through the talk and their regular ‘Share Your Story’ evenings, which invite both male and female students to discuss their experiences in an open and non-judgemental environment, Mind Your Head society hopes to alleviate some of the stigma.
Tickets can be obtained from the Students’ Guild website, costing £4 for students and £6 for non-students.
