In this blog post, Adele shares the details of a great Calderdale based collaboration, with men’s mental health right at the heart of it.
Men Matters – What’s it all about?
For the last couple of years here at Adeles Yoga I’ve been giving some extra thought to the men of Calderdale, with a particular interest in their wellbeing. It’s fair to say that my own personal insight as a yoga teacher, is that nowhere near enough men practice yoga. I see it as a hugely untapped resource; that the stress-reducing tools and techniques we practice and instil in a yoga class are not being explored and integrated by the men in our community. I’m also aware (who isn’t!) of the growing, worrying trends amongst our men. Suicide is the largest cause of death of men aged under 45. Significant mental health issues are being experienced and left unsupported for the men in Calderdale and beyond.
These are the conversations I have regularly with a good friend of mine, who has dedicated his life to the wellbeing of young people and young adults in Calderdale – the very wonderful Mr Danny Hutchinson from Invictus Wellbeing charity. Danny forged a great relationship with Graham Sykes of Fourteen19®, a youth marketing agency. Graham is a Youth Employment and Engagement specialist, which in my brain equates to someone who connects hugely worthwhile ideas and incentives to our future generations, our leaders and influencers of tomorrow.
Together, we’ve formed bit of a local mental-health dream-team. What we have created together, and what will be launched this March 2026, is a great piece of usable content, that directly addresses this huge issue around men’s mental health.
Introducing Men Matters
THE IDEA: We wanted to create a podcast and social media campaign which spoke to a specific age group of men – the 16-25 year old men of Calderdale. We wanted to create helpful, useful content which would prove to be a useful resource for young men struggling with their mental health. Our angle was to tap into the lives of 6 local men who had a ‘story to share’ – almost like a sharing of wisdom; a helpful friend opening up to ease the burden; an older male generation supporting the current younger generation. We aimed to create content which is hard-hitting in places; wholly relatable and resonant; completely real. The style is intentionally authentic; we had young men doing the filming and interviewing, as well as the editing you’ll see in the final outputs. A project like this is only as good as its reach! And so when we launch, we will be looking for as much help as we can get, to share the content and get the word out.
THE WHO: The 6 Calderdale men who bravely went on camera and audio to share their stories on their mental health are: Steve; Graham, Gerry, Richard, Steven and Ian (in that order from left to right on the banner image) – to me they are local legends, for their heart-felt input into this project. Each one did it to help “just one man” – that was more than enough for them.
THE 3 CONTENT CREATORS: are myself Adele of Adeles Yoga; Danny Hutchinson of Invictus Wellbeing and Graham Sykes of Youth Social – more on us below if you’re interested.
THE FUNDING: to allow this project to happen was the wonderful team at Community Foundation For Calderdale (CFFC) – huge thanks and gratitude for all that they do in match-making great ideas with the right people and the right funding.
THE INSPIRATION: the inspiration is to do something positive, to take action, to create useable and useful content which is real and relevant, and which can make a positive difference to the mental health of our Calderdale men. The statistics sitting behind the inspiration are worrying and very real – with suicide being the largest cause of death of men aged under 45 in the UK.
THE OUTPUT:
- 6 x podcasts sharing each story from our Calderdale men.
- Alongside this we created video clips which will help us to drive awareness of these podcasts on our socials.
HOW COULD YOU GET INVOLVED? We will be launching this content in March 2026. In the meantime we are looking for your help to share the content when it goes live. We are looking to further collaborate within the community to help get our messages out far and wide in order to reach as many young men as possible. If you feel you can help us with this in any way through your workplace audience or your own socials and comms, please get in touch at adele@adelesyoga.com. We really would love to hear from you. There’s no doubt about it, impact comes from collaboration, we’re stronger together.
About your content creators..
Danny Hutchinson: “Young men need timely, accessible and effective support which is what we offer all year round at Invictus Wellbeing. Partnering up with Adele and Graham on this project was incredibly important for us, because it means we’re being proactive in reaching and supporting the men in West Yorkshire who really need it. We know that if we can reach these men early, we reduce the likelihood of more severe issues developing by building resilient, positive and healthy young people”
Graham Sykes: “Youth Social wanted to co-deliver this project as part of the Destination webapp because it strongly aligns with Destination’s focus on youth wellbeing, trusted lived experience and peer-led learning. The Men Matters project uses honest stories from older men to open up conversations about mental health to younger men. By co-producing podcasts and digital content, these experiences are accessible and relatable. Hosting the content on Destination ensures it reaches young people in Calderdale through a platform they already trust, shaped by real voices rather than advice alone”.
Adele Wills: “I believe strongly in community and in supporting each other, inclusively and with no judgements. In doing so I feel we can positively impact struggles with physical, emotional and mental health and wellbeing. Yoga is one way of doing this and regular yoga practices/guidance has become my personal dedication within our Calderdale community. Utilising the funding from CFFC and combining our (myself, Danny and Graham) passions for positive change make this an incredibly worthwhile project. Less chat and more positive action is definitely my vibe”.
Watch this Space!
With the campaign launching late March 2026, we welcome your ideas and support in helping us to drive awareness and reach of this wonderful local content.
Contact details:
e: adele@adelesyoga.com
t: 07794866160
