Anyman Launch
A new name has appeared in connection with support services for men with the launch of Anyman on June 27 2019.
As reported elsewhere on this website Anyman replaces Amen which has been dissolved and a new board appointed which can be checked here.
Its chairman is Owen Connolly who is a psychotherapist with a practice in Stillorgan, Connolly Counselling Centre.
One speaker at the launch was Laura Sweeney of the special garda unit which deals with domestic abuse.
A second was Gareth Presch the founder and CEO of the World Health Innovation Summit (#WHIS) a platform to improve people’s health and wellbeing while generating value shared.
World Health Innovation Summit aims to relieve the pressures on health services by giving our communities the tools to take care of their own physical and mental well-being… from childhood through to old age.
Ultimately, we hope to change the way people think about their health, physically and emotionally.
Gareth announced the holding of a conference In partnership with The Good Summit October 17th 2019 Trinity College – Dublin.
There is a freshness and dynamism about the Anyman website which promises better things for the future.
Anyman Outreach Clinics
National Outreach Clinics are held in Dublin, Limerick, Galway, Dundalk and Kilkenny.
An outreach clinic is available in Dolphin House, Family Law Courts, East Essex Street, Dublin 2, on a weekly basis. This clinic supports men in preparation for court as well as emotional support and legal information to those who cannot attend the office in Navan. The clinic is facilitated by our Court Accompanier / AnyMan Support Worker and is by prior appointment only.
It has outreach clinics in Kilkenny, Galway, Limerick, Dundalk but consult the website first for dates of operation as these are not frequent.
According to its Strategic Plan: Our vision for the future is to develop the organisation template so that it is possible to replicate our range of services nationwide. We see AnyMan as a leading example of good practice for other organisations supporting men both nationally and internationally.
A second group announced a new support service for male victims of domestic abuse in May 2019. This was the Waterford based Men’s Development Network (MDN) which launched a Male Advice Line with a freephone number. It says this service is staffed by fully qualified Counsellors and Psychotherapists who have been specifically trained in this area of work. Given that MDN expect to handle 5000 calls per annum from the South East region this points to the high demand for services from this region alone and to the need to roll out services in other cities and towns across the country.
A coming together of men’s groups
A theme that came up on June 27 was a desire to see different men’s groups around the country come together to pool resources and find common areas of agreement. These could then be formulated into aims/goals to be put before policy making bodies such as Oireachtas committees or state agencies.
The Limerick based group Familes describes itself on its website as follows:
Familes which stands for Families and Men In Life Experiencing Separation is a support & information group. Familes are based in Limerick, we support the surrounding areas. All our services are free.
We’re passionate about helping people who are separating. We are a specialist group primarily for men but who also support each Family member and we work together with many recognized state and private qualified and accredited professionals already supporting the community.
Men’s Meetings every Monday & Thursday evening 7.30 to 9 pm & Women meet every Wednesday evening. Meetings held at 291 Fr Russell Square, 3 doors to the right of the Train Station.
A group in Cork, Fathers Matter, supports men undergoing separation and those already separated who are having difficulties with access to children. The lack of support services for men in this very difficult situation is an enormous problem and is one crying out for redress.
This group meets on the first Tuesday of every month at 7pm in the Nano Nagle centre, Evergreen St. a resource centre which provides a meeting place for many community groups.
