The National Ice Hockey League (NIHL) is delighted to confirm that their charity partner for the 2024 regional play-off weekends will be mental health charity Andy’s Man Club.
The play-off weekends take place at iceSheffield and Alexandra Palace on April 6/7 and feature the best sides in the NIHL 1 and 2 in the North and South. Each event will be attended by hundreds of fans from all over the respective leagues.
Andy’s Man Club run peer-to-peer support groups for men over 18 going through storms in their lives, every Monday at 7pm excluding bank holidays. Clubs are free to attend, with no registration required.
The group was founded after the death by suicide of Andy Roberts. Andy gave no indication to his family that he was suicidal, and as a result, his brother-in-law, Luke Ambler, and mother, Elaine Roberts, founded Andy’s Man Club in the hope that men who struggled to open up had a safe space to do so.
The first Andy’s Man Club session ran in Halifax in 2016, with nine men in attendance on the night. The groups follow the same model they did on the first night and are now available in hundreds of locations nationwide, stretching from Plymouth to Aberdeen.
Following on from the Covid-19 pandemic, Andy’s Man Club created an online function via Google Meet. This follows the same model and enables men who cannot leave their home due to a variety of issues to join sessions.
In the long-term, the charity aims to have a location within 30 minutes travel of any man in the UK.
NIHL GM Haydn Hunter with representatives from AMC Stockton, Billingham Buccaneers and Nottingham Lions. Photo credit: Paul Ali
NIHL general manager Haydn Hunter said: “We’ve been talking with Andy’s Man Club for a while about partnering at our play-off weekends, and I was pleased that one of our NIHL2 clubs, Billingham Buccaneers, independently made contact with their local AMC on Teesside and held an event at their last home game raising over £2000.
“Mental health is important, and sadly for men there is still a stigma around speaking up. Andy’s Man Club helps to remove that by having an open meeting every week with venues all across the UK.
“We look forward to welcoming representatives from Andy’s Man Club at both iceSheffield and Ally Pally and spreading the word about their project, as well as positive message about mental health, while also helping to raise much-needed funds to support their ongoing work.”
Tanya French, head of events for Andy’s Man Club, said: “We are delighted to have been chosen by the NIHL as their charity partner to help raise much-needed awareness of men’s mental health.
“Being able to connect with so many people in the ice hockey community will really help spread the word that #ITSOKAYTOTALK.
“A big thank you to everyone for their support!”
Andy’s Man Club will be collecting at the events, as well as selling their merchandise and sharing information on their services and being there to chat with anyone.
To find out more about the charity, email info@andysmanclub.co.uk or head to www.andysmanclub.co.uk.
To send us your latest club news, please click here!