A new service aimed at helping men has been launched in Montrose.
Mandown was set up by Mary Urquhart, a mother-of-four from the Angus town, who feels there is not enough support for men in various aspects of life.
The service, which runs from midday to 5pm, Monday to Friday, is based at Montrose Roselea JFC’s ground, with Mandown having full use of the building in Broomfield Road.
Mary, 35, said: “The thinking behind it was that there’s nowhere for men and boys to go to get help.
‘Such limited places’
“Locally and outwith the town there are such limited places to go.
“If you’re a man and you’ve got problems, the only thing you can do is pick up the phone.
“A lot of the guys I’ve spoken to say, ‘Oh we just go to the doctor’.
“I ask them what else they can do and they say they don’t know. I feel like I’ve seen the failings and something needs to change.”
Mary, who is married to husband Scott, and lives in Montrose, said barriers such as not having electronics or wifi could make it difficult for people to access online resources or find out about other support groups.
She pointed to mental health support groups already in place in Angus – including Andy’s Man Club in Arbroath and Someone’s Hero in Forfar – but said many people do not know about them.
After opening on June 28, Mary said her team of 15 volunteers had been busy most days.
“We’ve had quite a few walk-ins,” she said.
“A couple of them were just people who came in, they just needed someone to talk to,” she said.
“It makes their day a little bit better.
“I’ve had other gentlemen who have come in but they decided they wanted to become support volunteers for anyone else coming in.
Man supplied with furniture
“We’ve managed to supply one gentleman with a new sofa and a bed because he just didn’t have it, that was with the help of Angus Clearance Services.
“We’re going to be running a clothing bank for anyone who’s needing clothing.
“They can come in, tell us what they need. One of our volunteers, Maureen, is going to be doing that, and she’s also going to be doing surgeries as well, for people who are needing help with housing – with anything really.
“We’ve got access to a lot of the different services, Tayside Council on Alcohol (TCA) are going to be coming down over the next few weeks as well.
“There’s variety of things we do – if you’re needing a shower, come out, there are showering facilities. If you’re needing washing done, we have a washing machine. If you need help finding different forms of support, we’re there.
“We’ll help, we’ll literally help with anything, and if we can’t help, we’ll find someone who can help you.
“If you just want to come out and have a cuppy and a chat with one of our workers you can also do that.
“It’s free, we’re putting on tea, coffee, sandwiches, biscuits and cakes.”
Plans for Mandown began around six weeks ago. Mary said she “realised things needed to change” and Peter Davidson, who runs Montrose Food Hub, said he would happily help and suggested Roselea’s facilities, with the club agreeing to let the organisation use them.
But volunteers hope to move to the High Street eventually, to make their facilities more accessible.
Mary said: “We’re hoping to start teaching people life skills too, things like cooking a meal, hygiene, wiring a plug, making scones – anything you would do day-to-day.
“We’re looking at teaching people to do mock interviews, to gain that confidence.
“It’s helping people become independent but also there are a lot of people out there who have forgotten how to do things in life.
Basic life skills
“Other people have just never been taught basic skills like ironing, things like that. I am trying to keep it simplistic, but it’s important.
“But no one is forced to do anything, they can come in and if all they want is a seat and a cup of tea that’s fine.”
Friendships formed at Mandown
Mary said friendships had been formed among service users too, which was encouraging for her to see.
“We’ve had different ages in,” she said.
“We do want to work with Montrose Academy once we’ve done the PVG Scheme (protecting vulnerable groups, which allows people to work with children).
“That would be to help any pupil who needs it. A lot of the kids are not really reaching out to their teachers, we feel. They’re not getting the support they’re always needing.
Helping children from low-income families
“A lot of the kids are from low-income families, so they can afford to pay for the passes to get into the gym but they can’t afford the footwear.
“We are looking to get a scheme set up for donations and if someone wants to join football, or want to join rugby but they’re lacking that confidence because they don’t have the footwear, we can hopefully, in time, supply a pair of shoes for them.
“I’m hoping to get companies in to see if they can donate to us, and do what some of the football clubs do, if they’re in good enough condition then we can reuse the shoes.”
While the group is aimed at men, Mary said they would never turn anyone away who needed help.
“Anybody who needs any help, just come out,” she said.
“Nobody should ever feel alone. That’s the biggest message that we want to get across.
“We are completely non-judgemental. We’re not judging you on your past, we see you for who you are that day and we will work with anybody on that day.”
For more information about Mandown, including volunteering, visit their Facebook page.