Lewes-based men’s-work organisation that aims to halve male suicide set to open first UK-wide membership

Merlin Matthews set up Man Academy to help men through personal and group empowerment.

Founder Merlin said he has run Men’s Circles in Brighton, Lewes and London, and online, since 2021 and has coached men since 2020.

The organisation aims to open its first membership to men across the UK on Saturday, October 31, with two onboarding calls on the day.

One of the organisation’s goals is to halve the UK’s male suicide rate by 2050.

Pointing out that around 14 men die by suicide each day in the UK, Merlin said: “You often can’t tell when a man is struggling.”

He said: “A man who says what’s going on, every week, with men who know his name, is not invisible when he starts to struggle. That’s the whole idea.”

Men can join until 3pm on Saturday and the first ten-men groups are set to start on Monday, November 2.

Merlin said the UK-wide membership runs online, with each man joining a ‘10Men group’, which will be the same ten men, including a trained leader, every week. Alongside this, the participant learns one practical skill each week, such as ‘how to give a clean apology’, ‘how to listen when it is hard’ and ‘how to stay steady under pressure’. The aim is then for the man to put this to work in his real life. Merlin said this is ‘the next step after the Circles’, adding: “It’s good to talk. Then what?”

He said: “A Circle is a fantastic place to be witnessed. It wasn’t built to teach skills, and it meets once a month. This is every week, with ten men who notice when you go quiet.”

Merlin said the first founder members have joined the group and said 25 trained group leaders are ready, adding that places are on a sliding scale from £15 to £81 a month and chosen by the participant himself. The next intake is set to open in January.

Merlin runs nine Circles a month and attends five more as a participant. He is also the founder of bicycle-shipping charity Re-Cycle.

Visit www.Man.Academy to find out more.