b1oke

b1oke was founded in December 2020 on the back of what can only be described as a mounting crisis in mental health which has compounded by impact of COVID-19. Men’s suicide was already at alarmingly high levels and is getting worse. b1oke looked into why 3 times as many men than women were taking their own lives. According to the leading expert on suicide, Thomas Joiner, the desire to die by suicide comes from a sense of disconnection from others and lack of belonging, combined with a belief that one is a burden on others. Everything we do will be about one of the three above - engaging with people (connection), interacting with us and the community (belonging/engaging) and providing them with the skills to help themselves and others (burden/purpose). Everything we do at b1oke is built around these three pillars; disconnection/connection, lack of belonging/informed & engaged and burden/enhance. b1oke runs programmes and workshops helping men speak up and seek help with their mental health as well as equipping them with a better understanding and tools to cope. b1oke is working towards a 24/7 crisis services centre for men.