Free men’s health dinner event comes to Frome

A FREE men’s health evening is to take place in Frome next week after an inaugural event in December proved to be a huge hit. 

The event called ‘Continuing the Conversation’ will take a deeper exploration into men’s health, understanding the pressures and strains of roles.

It follows on from an event held in December which attracted 65 men and received positive reviews from those that attended. It is organised by The Sound Foundation – a charitable trust run entirely by volunteers who are dedicated to the unified commitment of supporting sound health and wellbeing.

Otto Bathurst a local TV and film director who organises the free events said, “Recently I have been running these men’s events – celebration dinners. In essence they are super simple – an opportunity for men to take a couple of hours out of their busy lives to just stop, and spend some time considering themselves, putting themselves first, and talking – that’s it really!

“But, as is well known, men aren’t traditionally very good at this kind of thing. We are brilliant at talking about other people, the world, sport, films, jokes, all kinds of things but if the spot-light gets turned back on us, then we tend to pull up the drawbridge.

“One of the simplest illustrations is that prostate cancer and breast cancer are both affecting roughly the same amount of men and women respectively – yet which is more talked about?

“The impulse behind these events was that I felt that before we could even start addressing the myriad of issues that are affecting men these days, men needed to actually start talking about them, sharing, meeting, chatting and connecting.

“Men aren’t very good at talking. But, at our first dinner in December, this preconception was blown out of the water. Sixty-five men of all ages turned up and it was a fabulous evening with everyone very openly sharing and chatting and communicating. We had a wide variety of speakers; ambassador for Prostate Cancer, engineer from Lotus cars, health and exercise specialist, TV director, physiotherapist. who initiated various conversations with short introductory talks and then the men, amongst their tables, continued the conversations.

“It was an inspiring evening in which everyone got to have in-depth chats and it was great to see men so readily and easily and enthusiastically open themselves up to some of the conversations.

“The free event consisted of a stunning three-course meal cooked by one of the ex-chefs of the Archangel and was such a roaring success that we are repeating it on March 4th.”

The men-only event is free to attend and takes place at The Sound Foundation, Tytherington, Frome, BA11 5BW. To confirm your place email contact@soundfoundation.uk.com