Some material I found on Men's Sheds and comments by Cornflower got me thinking that it might be useful to have some discussion about positive stuff being done to support men.

As a starting point the Australian Men's Sheds Association claims to be the largest men's support organisation in Australia.

http://www.mensshed.org/page7859/Home.aspx

Some research material on the role they play can be found at http://www.ncver.edu.au/research/proj/nr5011.pdf

There are also a number of Men's rights type organisations around mostly focussed around issues resulting from family breakdown. eg http://www.mensrights.com.au/ "A National, Non-Profit Organisation Providing a Better Outcome for Men and their Families" Such groups are often attacked very strongly by those with a focus on womens rights but for many they provide support when there is no-one else during a very difficult time.

"XY is a website focused on men, masculinities, and gender politics. XY is a space for the exploration of issues of gender and sexuality, the daily issues of men’s and women’s lives, and practical discussion of personal and social change." http://www.xyonline.net/
Michael Flood has had a heavy involvement. Some of their values are one's I share, others not so much.

All very different approaches and targeting different issues. I'm interested to see what other resources people are aware of and to see some constructive discussion on how the strengths of each can be better used and the weaknesses addressed.

R0bert

Wonderful idea RObert.

The Men's Sheds has been really useful in rural Australia to assist those who experience depression due to difficulties in the agricultural sector and isolation (and other reasons).

http://www.beyondblue.org.au/index.aspx?link_id=59.1185

Men and boys have different pressures and expectations than women including much confusion over what it means to be a man or how one might define masculinity.

Mens sheds seem to be working well for men to connect and talk with others. A problem talked about is a problem shared and all power to those involved in the mens sheds program.

Foundation 49 - Mens Health
http://www.49.com.au/index.php?option=com_frontpage&Itemid=1

Mens Health Zone: "...an initiative specifically targeted to men so they can see where they measure up on the scorecard of good health and, if needed, make the right changes to live healthier lives. MHN HealthZone was created to address the deteriorating health of men caused by poor health education, lack of awareness and culturally induced behavior patterns. This has caused a silent health crisis, whereby men face higher mortality rates than women for 9 of the 10 leading causes of death in addition to a shorter life span."
http://www.menshealthnetwork.org/healthzone/

Men's Health Network:

http://www.menshealthnetwork.org/

Men's Health Month (June) Information:
http://www.menshealthmonth.org/
and June 14-20 is Men's Health Week.
http://www.prostatehealthguide.com/
http://www.menshealthweek.com.au/event-listing.php

Prostate Cancer Foundation:
http://www.prostate.org.au/articleLive/

Counselling online for Drug and Alcohol issues:
http://www.counsellingonline.org.au/en/how/faq.aspx

Men's page on the Better Health Channel:

http://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/bhcv2/bhcarticles.nsf/pages/Mens_health_theme_page?OpenDocument

Men's Health Information and Resource Centre (MHIRC: NSW Health):
http://menshealth.uws.edu.au/MHIRC/Home.html

Yes RObert, I fully support all these initiatives to support men, because we all have male relatives and friends who are having a hard time of it.

I especially like the men's health initiatives Pynchme mentioned above.
Many men are often too 'tough' to admit they are having physical problems- especially if that problem involves the waterworks or may have to involve a check of the bowel :D.

In W.A. we have a group called MATES in a little town called Busselton in our Southwest. This group of men have won community awards and grants for their work:
http://www.yellowpages.com.au/wa/busselton/mates-mens-support-group-busselton-13474729-listing.html

Like many areas in Australia, the Southwest has domestic violence issues that affect men, women and children of their community.
MATES staff give refuge to the men involved in domestic disputes, and give them a place to stay to cool down, as well as counselling and anger management courses.
They are doing something positive for the whole community.

pelican, Pynchme and Suzie thank's for the additional links.

I will try and look through some of that over the weekend.

R0bert

R0bert

I had already posted the following link on another thread, before seeing your topic.

I hope you find it helpful.

http://www.alternet.org/story/147105/shame-o-phobia%3A_why_men_fear_therapy?page=entirehttp://www.alternet.org/story/147105/shame-o-phobia%3A_why_men_fear_therapy?page=entire