The One About The Gala pt 2

Keith Blakemore Noble [00:00:32]:
Hey. Hello. Hello. Welcome back. Welcome back to the 2nd podcast, part 2, talking about the Gala. You may have caught, the first part 2 episodes ago where we explored what the, come together for CALM, health care, is all about. And we had, several ladies on sharing their experiences in mental health with us. This time, we’ve got Becca back because it’s her gala.

Keith Blakemore Noble [00:01:00]:
And I’m also joined by 3 other gentlemen who, all have experience with, mental health, and we’re gonna share, one’s perspective of mental health from, on that perspective. That’s what we’re gonna be talking about. So let’s bring everybody in. Hello, everyone. How are you doing?

Jack Nolan [00:01:19]:
I’m good.

Keith Blakemore Noble [00:01:20]:
Excellent. Yeah. Brilliant. So we’ll just go quickly quickly around the room, just to say hello so everyone knows who who we are. At the moment, we’re in Saint Wain Noble. Next, we’ve got

Becca Innes [00:01:33]:
I’m Becca Innes, and I’m the founder of Come Together For Count.

Jack Nolan [00:01:37]:
I’m Jack Nolan, and I’m an inspirational living experience to go metal out.

Dominic Fenton [00:01:43]:
I’m Tom Fenton, and I’m the activity connector.

Paul Thompson [00:01:48]:
I’m Thompson, and I’m a life coach and public speaker.

Keith Blakemore Noble [00:01:52]:
Fantastic. Thank you all for joining us. So I’m gonna start with Becca. Becca, just remind us. So we’re this this has come about because of the charity gala. Just remind us a little bit of what’s the gala about and what why? Why is it raising funds? Who’s it raising funds for and why?

Becca Innes [00:02:09]:
So the the first gala, and last, is taking place on 16th November in Coventry. I decided that that was the thing I wanted to do for Calm Next. But I have been fundraising since 2020 because we sadly lost my cousin to suicide, that year, and I wanted to do something positive. So we’ve done all sorts of different things, but a gala kind of felt like the next natural step. And although it was a big scary thing, I’m very excited to see how it turns out on the night.

Keith Blakemore Noble [00:02:41]:
Awesome. And we’ll we’ll talk a little bit more about, where the gala is, when they’re trying, and how you can you can get tickets. We’ll talk a little bit more about that, toward the end of the episode. In the last one, Becca shared why why this charity means so much to her. Do check the previous episode if out if you haven’t listened to it already, the one with the gala part 1. And this time because, the charity itself is raising money for is Calm, Campaign Against Living Miserably, they help all people with with, with mental health these days, both people who are experiencing mental health issues and also those who are living with or or or help or work with or are friends with people who have mental health issues. They originally started working with men. Now they work with men and women.

Keith Blakemore Noble [00:03:29]:
And as Becca Becca has mentioned her, she, got involved with this because of loss of her male cousin. So we thought last time we had, some women in their perspectives, we thought we’d share the men’s perspective on mental health. It’s not something that gets talked about perhaps as often as it ought. So just go around and and share experiences. Jack, we’ll start with you because you were the first to to join in when we, when we, opened the room up. So, Jack, tell us a little bit about your your experience.

Jack Nolan [00:03:59]:
Thank you, Keith. So my experience is is that 8 years ago, unfortunately, I got sectioned. You know, I was running so fast towards my dreams, my goals, and my ambitions that I lost that metaphorical oxygen. The higher I climbed the mountain, the more steeper it was harder on my shoulders and that pressure and that stress just overwhelmed me so much that I just lost control and led to me be in section for the first time. And then shortly after that experience, I ended up getting section for the 2nd time 18 months later. So with that experience in mind, it’s it’s really made me open up this idea of what mental health is and what I can do to wave deflects to support people with mental health, turning my section experiences into a success from section to success, you could say. So in my experience of mental health, you know, I’ve been diagnosed with bipolar, and that’s a challenge because every single day, I don’t know what I’m gonna wake up like. You know? I take my medication.

Jack Nolan [00:04:58]:
I do all the things that I can do possibly to keep well and stay on track. But But the most important thing that I found is doing things just like this, what we’re doing today, connecting, sharing our stories, and speaking to each other about our mental health is so important with those that you trust.

Keith Blakemore Noble [00:05:15]:
Absolutely. And as you say, you you were sectioned not once, but twice, and you’ve still got through all of that. And, tell tell us tell us about some of the successes that you have created after that just so that people know that even when they’re in the depths of despair, there is a future out there.

Jack Nolan [00:05:31]:
Absolutely, Keith. So some of the success that I’ve experienced is is changing my mindset from a limiting belief mindset to a growth mindset. As when I came out of hospital the 2nd time around, I had books that I wanted to write and books that I wanted to publish. So I got laser focused like an army ranger, you could suppose, a sniper. I see my goal in the crosshair. It was to get my book into waterstones. So I had to take the first step by plumbing up the courage to get laser focused on a publisher that I wanted to work with. So I’ve seen it in my crosshair.

Jack Nolan [00:06:03]:
I went, right. I picked up that phone and said, hi. Yeah. My name’s Jack Nolan. I’ve got a great book that I wanna share with you in the world. How does that sound to you, mister publisher? It didn’t go anywhere. You know what I mean? A week later, I heard nothing. So I had to sum up the courage to ring him again and again and again over a period of weeks.

Jack Nolan [00:06:21]:
5 weeks went by, and I was fortunate enough to get that book in a publishing house and on the shelves of waterstones after that persistence and that to NASA and that determination to rebuild my life from scratch to be able to become a micro success in my eyes. So from there, it led me from strength to strength. I got help and support of another charity in that journey called 40 second Street. When I was at at a charity, like, the great charity that we’re supporting today, they supported me. They believed in me. They gave me strength. They gave me courage and confidence to share my story with the world. And that’s what led to me getting corporate opportunity to speak for corporates like Camelotra, Barclays Bank, Mace Construction.

Jack Nolan [00:07:02]:
You name it. I’ve fought with over leading over 20 leading organizations so far in my journey. And I’m just really excited to see what the world can offer me really in terms of how I can make a positive impact in people’s lives regarding mental health and how they overcome their challenges and circumstances as I believe that my store can shine a beaming light of hope, like a lighthouse to help those of a boats that are coming into the shore, you know, safely.

Keith Blakemore Noble [00:07:30]:
I love that. I love that. Like, a lighthouse to to to safely guide others away from yeah. I I love that. And I think you’re right. It is really important that we do share our experiences. The more more we all talk about these things, the more we realize how, pervasive it is. And also those going through it themselves can realize I’m not alone.

Keith Blakemore Noble [00:07:49]:
It’s not just me. There there are others as well. Thanks. Thanks, Jack. Dom, I know you’ve, you’ve got some experiences here, and you you work with with people this. Tell share us a little bit.

Dominic Fenton [00:08:01]:
Yeah. Thank you. So in terms of, my experiences, I was, first of all, suicidal at 14. I’ve been bullied at secondary school. I wasn’t I’ve been playing rugby from the age of 5, and the I went to I started at secondary school, and I wasn’t your typical secondary school student. I was a rugby player. I played chess, and I liked singing on stage. So I wasn’t your typical, student going through, and found I just didn’t fit.

Dominic Fenton [00:08:35]:
I didn’t fight back at school, because I had rugby, so the I had the outlet of playing sport and playing rugby. But actually, it got to a point at 14, I locked myself in the room, and I didn’t wanna come out of the room. Luckily for me, it’s been rugby that helped me get through that. So for me, a lot of what I do is talk about having hobbies, having an outlet to to support you and the the team around you and the people around you to support what you’re doing. Also then 2016, I got made redundant, my marriage broke down, and I became I felt a failure in terms of my life and what I was doing. I had 2 daughters. I had 2 stepchildren. And, yeah, I just hit rock bottom then.

Dominic Fenton [00:09:28]:
Luckily, managed to sort of get through that. And then probably the biggest biggest experience for me was 3 years ago when I hit rock bottom, sat in my car, and broke down for 3 hours at 10 o’clock at night listening to a channel. Decided that I went into my house at 1 o’clock in the morning, decided to bring my brother up in Ibiza, said that I don’t wanna be here anymore, and he said you need help. And the next day or that day, I ended up googling support, managed to talk to someone, and then basically, they were then paid for counseling for the next 4 months just to help me get through what I was going through. And it was the best thing I ever did. And now I sort of share stories about how we can open up. Starting looking at men’s mental health groups as well. I’ve done couple of talks in the last couple of weeks around the power of the hobby, setting up podcasts and and other aspects of that.

Dominic Fenton [00:10:28]:
But for me, it was about finding what your outlet is, finding finding the right people around you, and, trying to move forward with your life that way.

Keith Blakemore Noble [00:10:36]:
Yeah. Yeah. No. Thank thank you for sharing that. And and again, some similar question to to the one I asked Jack. So you’ve been been in that really dark, dark place. What’s your life like now? Again, just to give people, an understanding that it doesn’t have to be the end. There is there can always be hope.

Dominic Fenton [00:10:55]:
Yeah. It doesn’t it doesn’t have to be the end, but I think also there’s still days where I struggle. I’m I’m not I haven’t sort of gone to doctors and they’ve said you’re you’ve got you’ve you’re struggling with this or you’re doing this. For me, it was just I felt completely isolated on my on my own. The biggest thing at the moment now is the people I’ve got around me. The fact I can because I’m I’m happy to share my story. Probably the biggest thing is people reaching out and going, well, actually, we’ve heard you talk, or we’ve seen a blog, or we’ve seen a post. And, actually, by by them connecting with that post, they’ve reached out and said thank you.

Dominic Fenton [00:11:40]:
So, actually, it’s not necessarily about me in terms of that. It’s the impact I can have on other people, And probably similar to similar with Jack, you know, I wanna share my story. I wanna be out there talking to people. I wanna be able to inspire people to go, you know what? Actually, you can you can get through it, whether you’ve got a diagnosis or not. I know how I felt. People around me know how I felt. And, actually, I never wanna feel that way again, and I never want anyone else I know to feel that way again. So the more that I can support people and put things in place, set up men’s groups, we’ll set up conferences and everything else that we’re planning.

Dominic Fenton [00:12:23]:
If I can inspire 1 person every day, then I’m doing my job.

Keith Blakemore Noble [00:12:27]:
Yeah. Very true. Very true. And I can imagine there’ll there’ll be a lot of people who, no. Not to put your final point in it, there’ll be quite a few people who are still here because you’ve spoken out because you you’ve off offered support. Hopefully. Hopefully. Thanks, Don.

Keith Blakemore Noble [00:12:44]:
And, Paul Paul, what’s what’s your, your perspective on, on this?

Paul Thompson [00:12:50]:
Yes. So I’ve experienced mental health, well, since I was old, really, but I didn’t really have the grasp of mental health until I was sort of in my early thirties. And I had a I had a a massive breakdown at the age of 32 where I tried to take my own life, and I had this core of anger and confusion, why I was feeling this way. And there was a buildup of triggers with childhood with relationships, with employment, being a responsible dad. And all these factors just came to a halt when I was in, in that place. And I was actually found at my local bridge, I mean, about 5 o’clock in the morning because I set my alarm clock knowing that no one would find me. It was a planned event. You know? And, when when I was found, luckily, and I was sectioned, I started to receive professional help, and I started to get a grasp on what was going on in my life and why I was receiving these triggers and why I was always angry and always perceived as a black sheep in my environment, such as work, friendships, and so much more.

Paul Thompson [00:14:10]:
And at that point, I was actually working for an employer that’s a male dominated, employer where mental health was never really talked about and it’s always brushed under the carpet. And looking back, I there were moments where I tried to make people aware of my mood, and it was always ignored. It was always something like it was you know, I was I was handled like a hot potato because there was no education or or, you know, empathy with it. And when I started to have long term counseling, you know, 18 months, 2 years of counseling, I started to realize that it’s my inner child that was damaged. You know, my my inner child was was hurt. It was broken. They were screaming at me because there was things in my childhood that wasn’t dealt with. I went into care at 13 because of the abuse and and the neglect I had at home.

Paul Thompson [00:15:02]:
But going into foster care and going into the big wide world in in independent living and employment, all these sort of situations weren’t dealt with. And I was confused. I was I was angry. I was, you know, ashamed. I was, you know, emotions. And when I started to get to the root of the problems with counseling, I soon realized that there was a massive problem with mental health with me and I was, you know, struggling with with all sorts. And when I started to get in a good place, I started to heal, started to be a position to talk about it freely, realized that I needed to make adjustments at the same time. So I changed my employer.

Paul Thompson [00:15:41]:
Actually, I was made redundant, which was a big massive, stepping stone for me. And I had a little bit of time on my hands to set up a CIC, community interest company back in 2017 on Mend Mental Health to do workshops, to do, school talks, sporting events where men can have a safe place to have a conversation, to have icebreakers, knowing that they’re not alone. Because I knew growing up in the nineties and even in my 30 thirties, there was no real connection for mental health groups. Because as we know, there’s been a massive influence in the last few years, you know, with COVID, that there’s been so many support groups, you know, being created, which is great. But in the noughties, there wasn’t there wasn’t me. And with social media hitting where it is now, it wasn’t really established then. So for me, I wanted to do something. And setting up that CICE team, which helped many people, I continue to, help others in COVID by doing live videos, doing safe spaces for anyone to reach out on on social media and just get on the channel and and and share stories.

Paul Thompson [00:17:01]:
You know? And, going to schools and going into colleges and and universities with the talks, I’m I’m all about prevention, and I’m all about action because I was thrive I was thriving on someone coming into my school when I was damaged and and hurt, for someone to speak out and someone just hates you as a role model and someone that can relate to me. And knowing that I’m going into these, environments and and sharing my story and giving advice, when I see kids putting up their hand and and asking a question or acknowledging and nodding their head, I know plants are being seeded. And that’s what it’s all about. Like, for young people, especially growing up, it’s about having tools in the locker. It’s about embracing emotions and and and showing vulnerability because it is perfectly okay. And And when I was at school and and growing up, I was always hiding things. I was always bottling things up because there was no outlet for me. So going back to, you know, doing the talks and so on, having that, I guess, just that engagement to know that people are reaching out is just a real positive for me because I don’t want to see anyone suffer like I did.

Paul Thompson [00:18:14]:
And it’s about breaking the stigma. It’s about normalizing the conversation. We, you know, we should be talking about mental health with our problems like it is with a hot dinner. You know? It it there’s no shame. And that’s why I’m trying to do my bit to raise awareness, but normalizing the conversation.

Keith Blakemore Noble [00:18:33]:
Yeah. I get I get and thank you for thank you for sharing your, your your experiences briefly as well. It’s, all all of them are being very, very powerful, very moving, and very different experiences. I think that’s an important thing to realize. Every everybody’s different. Everyone’s experiences are different as well. So, yeah, I think something we can take from this is everybody’s story is different. Everyone’s journey is different.

Keith Blakemore Noble [00:19:00]:
But the more we all talk about it, the more we can we can all start to realize that many of us do have these things. It doesn’t mean there’s there’s something inherently weird about us. It’s just it’s just a fact. I mean, I think you you were saying, boy, this sort of thing needs to be spoken about openly. Just like I mean, if if you break a leg, for example, you get all sorts of sympathy and and and people will see there’s an issue and you get help and and and so on about it. Same with, with, maybe one else side of things. Yeah. And I

Paul Thompson [00:19:31]:
and I think sorry, Keith. I’ll just we all know someone’s behavior and someone’s mood sometimes if it’s in the workplace. You know, someone’s not acting themselves or if they’re not performing at work maybe. There’s no, you don’t have to be qualified to have that conversation or you just it’s just about, you know, just striking that conversation and and asking twice if they’re really okay. Do you know what I mean?

Keith Blakemore Noble [00:19:54]:
That’s that’s a really good point. Now I’d be asking twice because you’re we’re so conditioned. How are you doing? Yeah. I’m fine. Okay. How are you really doing? Yeah. You’ve given me option to to open up there. Yeah.

Keith Blakemore Noble [00:20:06]:
And now, we’re here sharing about, mental health experiences, because, Becca is organizing with the gala. We come together for CALM Gala to raise funds for for CALM who who support people with mental health issues and also support those who are friends, families, colleagues, etcetera, of of such people. So I just wanna go around quickly and ask each of you, if there had been things like like calm around when you were experiencing the worst of your of your, situations, what sort of difference do you feel that might have might have made?

Dominic Fenton [00:20:48]:
Who’s gonna go? So mine, I I suppose it it’s one of them. It’s more about knowing what’s out there, which is obviously why we talk about awareness. Because when when I was younger, I didn’t really know what I I didn’t I knew what I was going through, but I didn’t know how I felt. And I was confused how I felt about but and, actually, the reason I was considering what I was considering was to stop the pain. That’s that’s as a as a kid, that’s what I was I was suicidal because I I didn’t wanna be bullied anymore. I think everything else I think a lot of it is there are there are so many organizations out there, but it’s knowing the right ones to turn to at the right time. And I think, actually, for me, it’s about having and charity’s a brilliant and I work for you know, I work with charities. I do a lot with charities now.

Dominic Fenton [00:21:48]:
For me, actually, it’s having someone to talk to. It’s it’s having a mentor that I can turn around and go and that’s what I try and probably a similar rapport with going into schools. You wanna I wanna be that someone who I needed. So, actually, I didn’t necessarily need a group of people. What I needed, I needed someone who who I could go to and go, you know what? This is what’s happening. I’m having window shut down on me. I’m having my head smashed on tables. I’m having all these things going on.

Dominic Fenton [00:22:16]:
I need someone to better talk to. And I think the more the more we can get them, and especially, you know, let’s talk let’s talk education. Let’s talk schools. Let’s talk young people in a moment. Actually, children need mentors. Young need mentors. Young people need someone they can they can turn to who who get it, who aren’t gonna judge them, who aren’t gonna say it’s their fault, who aren’t gonna wash away what they’re talking about, actually being able to go, you know what? This is how I’m feeling. Okay.

Dominic Fenton [00:22:50]:
Well, that’s you’re you’re more than you know, you’re okay to feel like that. But what we can’t we can’t we don’t wanna let this continue. What are we gonna now put in place for you to deal with it? And as I say, the resilience, the the tools that we have in our toolbox to go, this is what we need. So, actually, it’s not necessarily and I think CALM are amazing. The organizations out there are are fantastic now, and there are there are more and more organizations out there. My my big concern with with the number of organizations out there, it dilutes the money. It dilutes the pots of funding that are there. So, actually, what we need to be doing is getting organizations to work together because, actually, you’re gonna make a bigger impact by working in partnership with other people.

Dominic Fenton [00:23:42]:
But, actually, it’s about almost having a mentor in every single school, college, university, council well, it doesn’t even be counseling. This will be someone that the young people can turn to and go, you know what? I’m struggling. And you can sit and go, well, I can help you. And that’s all I would have needed at the time as a young person, just someone I can turn around and talk to. Getting older, we obviously you end up. You need to be able to know that it’s okay to reach out. You know, I talk a lot about don’t hold it in and try and reach out and reach out to someone else. You need to know so you need to be able to you need to be told that it’s okay to reach out and it’s okay to actually ask for help because as men, that’s the one thing we don’t do.

Dominic Fenton [00:24:29]:
We’re not gonna we’re not gonna go out for a quiet and suddenly sit across each other. We might be because that’s what we’re in, and that’s the that’s the work the world we’re in now. But actually, 9% a large percent of men aren’t gonna sit there over a pint and go, so how are you feeling today? We’re not gonna do that. You know? So it needs to be we need to have those tools, and we need to know it’s gonna be okay. And that for me, that’s that’s where that’s where we’re at at the moment. Mhmm.

Keith Blakemore Noble [00:24:57]:
You’re right. Paul, how how do you think things like calm being around when you were going through your, your issues, what sort of difference do you think that might have made for for you?

Paul Thompson [00:25:07]:
Yeah. It would have been a massive difference actually because I was crying out for help when I was, especially in my twenties when, you know, I was, in a relationship and I was in employment where, you know, I was I was still growing, you know, I was still growing or trying to grow mentally. But for me, look, the twenties in my twenties was the pinnacle for me where I needed the help the most just to have, I guess, prevention and and education on it. And I always remember reaching out to the Samaritans, and I’ve done work with the Samaritans since because of this reach out that I did and and sharing my story that with with the Samaritans being there, which they were 24 hour service, I made that phone call to them where I was at my absolute lowest. And I and and I can’t emphasize how I know it was. I was suicidal. I was absolutely on the edge. And you know what? For me, I had a conversation with a volunteer on the phone who was showing no judgment, was so calm and showing empathy to me, patience with me.

Paul Thompson [00:26:11]:
And to hear that voice and to hear that friendly voice and for someone on the end of the phone that was there as a friend and someone not to judge was everything to me because I I wasn’t I was able to have that cry. I was able to talk and feel that I wasn’t alone. And that was me up in my thirties. If I had that in my twenties and had that support and out there, then maybe I would have been in this position to be taking my life at 32 and being in that dark place. And I love where different organizational charities are doing different things, where they offer different services and different methods, you know, with text messaging if it’s with younger people, you know, if it’s on an email or if it’s on a phone call because people may be scared to pick up the phone. They may be more comfortable with text or do an email. Do you know what I mean? And so I love the fact there are different routes in communication for for anyone to reach out. I just wish, from my point of view, that I had that facility in you know, of of charities and support groups when I was in my twenties because I think I probably won’t be here having this conversation with you.

Keith Blakemore Noble [00:27:22]:
Yeah. Yeah. No. Totally get that. Totally get that, Paul. What what what about yourself, Jack? I mean, with with you 2 breakdowns, if there have been things like calm around at the time, do you think things might have been different? Or

Jack Nolan [00:27:35]:
Absolutely, Keith. Like, when I was in, like, college, dual, universe, there was no conversation on mental health, and there was no, like, organizations that at that time that went into these establishments to share awareness on mental health. Because I was in the unknown, and the only way I found out about mental health was when it was too late, when I was actually in hospital, infectioned, you know, scared out my mind, going through the psychosis breakdown. My family didn’t know what was going on. I didn’t know what was going on. The only way I could find out what was going on was when I was actually sparked back into reality in that environment. So it was hard. You know, it was challenging, but if it wasn’t for them experiences, I wouldn’t be having this conversation about you guys today.

Jack Nolan [00:28:19]:
So Mhmm. You know, it it’s crazy how where life can save you. So I I I’m a big advocate of organizations like CALM and 42nd Street and other mental health charities because without, you know, it’s like there’d be so many more people who’d be in distress now. You know what I mean? So that support, that connection, that empathy, that understanding that people are there for you. And even I hope I I know I’m not a doctor. I’m not a professional. I always say to people, oh, if you ever wanna chat, I’m here. You know what I mean? So that’s what, you know, I try to do my bit as well, like a doctor.

Jack Nolan [00:28:53]:
You know, I can’t say why it’s physically, but I try my best to do it mentally for people.

Keith Blakemore Noble [00:28:59]:
Yeah. No. I get that. I get that. And I must admit for me, I I had they been around at the time, it, would would definitely have made a difference. And the reason I know that was, I remember when Stephen Fry, started opening up and talking about his, struggles with depression and so on. I remember first time I read that, it really hit me. It’s like, oh my god.

Keith Blakemore Noble [00:29:23]:
I’m not the only one going through this. There’s someone else who goes through this, and there’s a somewhat big celebrity. They they’ve they’ve made a big success of their life, and they still have these bouts, and they find a way through it. I know that would have made a a big difference to me having, having those sorts of things spoke spoken about. I mean, even even if it doesn’t stave off depression, at least you can go, oh, well, yes, I’m going through it, but it’s not I’m not weird for it. It’s just a thing that happens to some people, and even people like them can get it, and they can get through it. So I guess I can find a way through it. It would have would have made a a huge difference.

Dominic Fenton [00:30:03]:
I think I think, Keith sorry. I I think as well with just on on that bit, actually, the one thing that we all feel is isolated. Mhmm. And, actually, by by having other people around us because I know for a fact that when I went through my divorce and I I had my own breakdown around when I got divorced and redundant and things like that, logically, you know that so many people go through it before you. Thousands of people go through divorce before you. So many people come out the other so many people go through stuff after you. You know, divorce is always gonna be there. Redundancy is, unfortunately, are always gonna be there.

Dominic Fenton [00:30:42]:
But at the time at the time you’re going through it, you you don’t logically think that. Mhmm. So actually, by having these organizations there, I because I I always think, actually, isolation is so is so so massive in everything that we talk about. Because, actually, you can be full in a room full of people, but, actually, you feel completely alone so often because you’ve got you you you just you’re the only one going through it. So, actually, having someone like CALM or other organizations as well, it’s it’s vital because actually, you know you’re not alone. And actually, it’s that bit of the you know, the tools are looking at how you can take yourself out of that and understand that actually you’re not you’re not on your own. You’re not the only one going through it as well. So I think, like, you know, the fact that we have these organizations such as CALM, it is vital because actually we we know that we can reach out to them.

Keith Blakemore Noble [00:31:36]:
Mhmm. Absolutely. So we we we can see mental health affects a lot of men, and we also see that that having people to talk to or having support there is is a a massive benefit and would have helped, all of us as well. So, Becca, just to wrap things up, just remind us a little bit about the gala. What what’s involved, and and where where and when is it?

Becca Innes [00:32:00]:
So it’s taking place in Coventry, on 16th November, so next month. We’ve got an amazing evening planned. It runs from 6 o’clock right through until 1 in the morning, but I can promise you it’s not gonna be your typical gala. You know, we have I wanted it to be different, and I think we’ve achieved it. So we have our drinks reception. We’re gonna have people talking. We’ve got a singer now. We have, you know, the opportunity to have professional photographs taken.

Becca Innes [00:32:31]:
But because I didn’t want people to go home feeling sad despite the seriousness of the event, we actually have, Toby Anstice from Heart FM that is gonna throw a little bit of a party for us at the end. So, hopefully, everyone looks with a smile on their face.

Keith Blakemore Noble [00:32:46]:
Awesome. Awesome. I love that. Finish finishing the evening on a high on a really positive note even though it’s a a very serious thing that you’re you’re raising funds for. Leave everybody on a high. Love that. Yeah. And I know you’ve got some

Becca Innes [00:32:58]:
was important kind of comfort filled circle because for a lot of people, you know, I want the serious stories about my cousin and, you know, we’ve had some other people who have trusted us with stories to tell on the night, but I also want to have that whole, you know, these people have got through it. So it doesn’t have to be your story. It doesn’t have to end that way. And I think it’s important to balance both out, especially at something like that.

Keith Blakemore Noble [00:33:23]:
Mhmm. Absolutely. Absolutely. Time is marching on as it always does. A big thank you to to Jack, to Dom, to Paul for for coming on here and sharing your your experiences. Massive thank you to Becca for for organizing the the the whole gala and everything. Thank you, dear viewer, dear listener, for for for listening. If you wanna find out more, there is a great long Eventbrite link for the gala.

Keith Blakemore Noble [00:33:51]:
They’re always impossible to remember, so we’ve created a short code. Go to keithbn.link/calm. You’ll find this episode, the previous episode, and more importantly, you’ll find all the information about the gala and the all important link to, allow you to buy tickets. Remind us when the gala is again, Becca.

Becca Innes [00:34:09]:
It’s on 16th November. So it’s on a Saturday.

Keith Blakemore Noble [00:34:13]:
Brilliant. Saturday, 16th November. Get your tickets. Find out more. KeithBN.link/CALM

Keith Blakemore Noble [00:34:19]:
Thank you everyone for taking part. Thank you everyone for listening, and, go do check out the check out the gala. Find out more. Get involved, and, catch you in another episode very soon. Bye for now.