What changed
Connect Outdoors is launching a charity on the Isle of Man to support men’s mental health and reduce isolation through activities including cold-water swimming, archery, hill walking, breathwork, yoga and bushcraft. Its launch accompanies an International Men’s Day event at the Venture Centre in Maughold, where organisers expect about 80 participants.
The charity will also survey attendees to learn which activities and approaches are most effective at engaging men.
Why it matters
The idea is deliberately low-pressure: conversation can happen while walking, climbing, swimming or sitting in an informal group, rather than beginning with a formal discussion about mental health. Gary Thomas, who runs Walking for Wellness, said people often find it easier to open up outdoors, while barber Joshua Moore described the barber’s chair as another place where men may feel able to talk.
That is the useful experiment here. Connect Outdoors is treating nature and shared activity as a doorway into conversation, not as clinical treatment. Kate Bergquist argues that the Isle of Man’s landscape should play a larger role in regular health and wellbeing routines.
The surveys could help turn that intuition into something more practical by showing which activities men actually choose and return to. For now, the charity’s reach, effectiveness and long-term funding remain unknown, and the survey findings have yet to emerge.
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