Member Article

North East container firm urges men to open up about mental health

A North East business is encouraging men to speak up about mental health issues as part of ongoing work to prevent male suicide. The Parsons Containers Group is celebrating the contributions that men make to the world by highlighting some of the positive role models in its team following International Men’s Day on 19 November.

Within its workforce, the Sedgefield based Parsons Containers Group employs 11 men. Many of them work on the group’s U Hold The Key container self-storage sites and often spend considerable periods of time working in isolation. The firm actively encourages all staff to be open with colleagues and talk about any problems that they are experiencing. This year, the company has focused on the theme of ‘zero male suicide’, highlighting ways in which men can share their issues and get the support that they need.

Ean Parsons, CEO of the Parsons Containers Group, comments: “This is a really important issue for society and one that we are determined to address at Parsons Containers. We have an open culture in the company and offer support all year round for the whole team. We always encourage everyone to talk to colleagues, but in the lead up to International Men’s Day, we’ve taken the opportunity to focus on the men in our workforce, who sometimes need to be persuaded to not bottle up their problems. That’s too easy to do when you’re working on your own for hours, so, as an employer, it’s vital that we make it easy and more natural to share issues before they become too serious. There is no judgement here and every colleague is willing to listen and talk with anyone who needs or wants to speak.”

As well as providing the necessary support to its own team, the Parsons Group is actively engaged in other projects that help men who have been struggling. Through its U Hold The Key division, the group has been working with the community interest company Suitability for several years. Founded by Darren Tate, Suitability is a North East initiative that supports unemployed men to look and feel confident when they attend job interviews, by providing them with high quality clothing that has been donated by local people and businesses. Suitability collects and stores suits, shoes and accessories in a U Hold The Key container in Newcastle, from where it can distribute apparel to the men who ask for help.

Darren Tate comments: “I’m very grateful to U Hold the Key for the team’s support over the years and this has enabled me to help so many North East unemployed men look and feel confident to succeed. I’m proud to play a small part in spreading awareness to men in the region about the importance of opening up about mental health issues, as this is such a worthy cause to be involved in.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Chris Lines .