Stories

After more than a year being dormant, I have decided to let go of the ‘static’ group and move forward with my new program focusing on Fathers.

FATHERS 4 FATHERS is a 12-week program with its goal to teach certain life skills and empower dads or fathers to be in Communication, Direction, Responsibility and Emotional Awareness.
The initial start was planned for end of April 2020, where CoVid19 stopped the project even from being advertised. New date is not fixed yet, and will be in September 2020 and taking place in Murwillumbah.

Below is the link to the website to register or get information :
www.aherosjourney.com.au

AND we may bump into each other on the streets of Murwillumbah through the project of a good friend and generous soul – Deep Listeners.
This group of ‘Listeners’ will be available in the community to listen. As this is a skill that is in short supply and we are trained and there to listen to whatever sits on your chest. Listeners will wear a badge to be identifiable and anyone can take their sorrow or stories to one of us and ‘talk it out’.
Official launch is 2 September 2020.
www.deeplisteners.org

Following are some Men’s peer support groups I am aware of in the area.

Fathers 4 Fathers, Murwillumbah, Mullumbimby …
Gerold Mayr
0435 596 952
12-week program to inquire own behaviours and practice new tools for being a better father. A small group of like minded people who want to become the hero in their child’s life.
www.fathers4fathers.com.au

ManKind Project [MKP], Nerang
Brooke Lucas
0412 195 995
MKP focuses on emotional self-exploration, looking at behaviours that are not helpful anymore and how to change them.
Group runs every Tuesday 7-10pm and welcomes visitors every session.
www.mankindproject.org.au

ManKind Project, Mullumbimby
Shervin Emami
0431 845 843
An ‘MKP i-Group’ is based around the same protocol, yet is always different, e.g. Mullumbimby takes a bit more of a spiritual approach. Circle meets on Wednesdays.
www.mankindproject.org.au

Complete Men, Gold Coast, Northern NSW and online
0478 508 155
Ongoing Men’s circles in a few locations and online. Complete Men also runs other program.
www.completemen.org

Men’s Wellbeing, East Coast
1300 13 88 50
Offers various programs; groups, workshops, festivals (e.g. Manshine).
www.menswellbeing.org

Yeaahh. Great news.
The application for money from the Tweed Shire Council’s Community Sponsorship Fund has been approved and the Open Men’s Group is receiving $1,793.
This money will make it much easier to keep our doors open to any Man who feels the call to sit in our circle. Further we will invest in promoting the group a bit more to spread the word, that there is a group like ours out there and attract more people to come and join in.

Plans on where the money will go to are :

• Rent
• Insurance contribution to the ManKind Project Australia
• Collateral (tea, biscuits, paper etc)
• Posters & Pamphlets
• Market stall at local markets
• Advert in local papers
• Social outing e.g. BBQ

A big Thank You to the Tweed Shire Council who puts this funds on offer for groups who put a lot back into the Community.

To view the full Tweed Link click here.

Helping someone seems so easy and hard at the same time.
Here is a little great tip.

Due to family circumstances the group will change the meeting day.

As of March the 1st the group will circle up on THURSDAYS.

Next meeting is Tuesday 20th of February and the following week will be a Thursday already.
See you there, Gerold.

After one year running the Men’s group as ‘Men on the Edge’ we revisited the purpose, activity, effectiveness and style of the group.
The result of our evaluation was that we started the group with the intention of offering a place for Men that had little to turn to. Not necessarily ‘broken’ Men, yet people who are in need of support and we wanted to be one way of helping someone to get through tough times.
We made some great experiences with Men coming and leaving a few months later with what they were looking for. Being there for others to download what goes on in their life and assisting to get past where they were stuck. Teaching ways to better be aware of one self and how we act out and be with others.
Basically seeing our little support network working.

In our discussion we also had a good look and talk about the name of the group and even though it may be the appropriate name for what the group was intended to be, we decided for a name change.
Welcome to the OPEN MEN’S GROUP

We hope with this new label for our circle to attract more Men to come and sit with us and share their story, as we know that it already takes some courage to walk into a room with people you’ve never seen before, so we wanted to make the name a bit more inviting.
And how about the abbreviation  …  🙂

To cater for the needs of some Men in the group we have moved our meetings from the Wednesday to Tuesday, as of 9 May 2017. Happy to not having to change venue, as we all enjoy the historical walls of the Uniting Church Hall.

We are looking forward to increasing numbers and going beyond the regular core group.

On February 22nd some courageous Men came together to sit in the first circle of ‘Men on the Edge’. The seed was planted to support Men to step towards a better quality of life.
Five Men with the intention to support one another, to be supported and to grow in the process. Energy was tangible that this will expand.