The three government funded pilots were set up in 2004 to help identify the barriers that may discourage young men from seeking help and look at ways of reaching out to this particularly vulnerable group.

It is proposed that the results of the pilots, published today, will be used to spread best practice and learning across the NHS.


The pilots - based in Camden, Bedfordshire and Manchester - found that:

- Community-based and informal locations offered a more successful means of engaging with young men than more formal settings such as GP surgeries;

- Front line staff, when given appropriate training, are better able to engage with young men;

- Alternative terms to 'mental health' - such as 'dealing with stress' or 'wellbeing' - need to be adopted to encourage young men to engage with future projects and to ensure that mental health issues are discussed in a non-stigmatising way;

- Proactive and community-based outreach programmes should be
established as these approaches were perceived by young men as more
acceptable, less threatening to their self-esteem and less risky, since staff were perceived as less likely to share information with other agencies, such as the police; and

- Accessible information and advice needs to be available for family members and friends of young men, since they are likely to provide a more immediate and trusted source of support.

CALM has led the way on a local level in implimenting these key principles over the last 8 years and since April 06 now operates on a national basis with the ongoing support of the Dept of Health.

Of the thousands of calls to our confidential, anonymous freephone helpline:

68.45% have been from men

59.63% have been from under 35’s

43% of young men calling CALM are not accessing other services – CALM is their first call for help

38% of calls come from word-of-mouth recommendations

These statistics speak for themselves. CALM works.

Suicide may now officially be the 2nd biggest killer of young men in England and Wales; this is because of an increase in land transport accidents. The sad truth is the number of suicides amongst 15 - 35 year old males marginally rose in 2005.

Simon Howes, Merseyside CALMzone Co-ordinator had this to say "I look forward to working with more newly employed CALMzone co-ordinators from across England and Wales and seeing CALM reach even more young men effectively."

Jude Stansfield - CALM trustee