Mayor commits £3m to physical and mental health

£715,000 would go towards tackling poor mental health in male-dominated industries, officials said

More than £3m is to be invested in two schemes aimed at improving people's mental and physical health in North Yorkshire.

The region's mayor, David Skaith, has committed £715,000 to improving men's mental health and a further £2.75m to helping rural and marginalised groups into sport.

Skaith said the issues were "personal" after struggling with his own mental health following the death of his father.

Announcing the funding he said: "Suicide is a leading cause of death in men under 50 – it's a national tragedy."

"After losing my dad, I struggled with my mental health and it took opening up, socialising and getting back into sport to start feeling better," he added.

"By taking a lead, we can directly tackle rural isolation and health inequalities - issues that York and North Yorkshire particularly struggle with."

He said the programmes would work to tackle the financial barriers to sport and activity and to improve mental health support in "male-dominated and isolated jobs", such as farming, the emergency services and construction.

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Mayor David Skaith said improving men's mental health was "personal" for him

Paul Galdas, Chair of the Men's Mental Health Taskforce said it was important to "meet men where they are" and "adapting our services to fit the unique needs of men in our area".

Lynne James, Manager of York-based mental health charity Mainstay, supported the allocation of funding but said she had "reservations" about how it would be distributed.

"It's saying 'we're not doing anything new- what we're going to try and do with this money is find ways that isolated communities, rural communities can access existing projects and sports activities'.

"[But] That's where I'm holding my breath to see how this plays out.

"Within rural communities, I think it's going to be more difficult.

"It depends how well organised the infrastructure of the rural communities is and what sports facilities already exist."

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