![Charity The Men's Table is launching in Bendigo, giving men the chance to form a unique social support network. Picture supplied Charity The Men's Table is launching in Bendigo, giving men the chance to form a unique social support network. Picture supplied](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/189568677/67e272cd-807e-4aa7-9a8d-def964cb2e6b.jpg/r0_0_1600_1067_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
Once a month, a group of men meets over a meal and a drink and talks about the highs and lows of life.
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It's called The Men's Table, a charity based around belonging, community, peer support and camaraderie among males, and on Tuesday, March 7 it will launch in Bendigo.
The charity started in 2011 when two men met at a networking event, and invited 10 others, for dinner
They've met at the same time, once a month ever since for informal, honest and judgement-free conversations.
Dan Ball, regional co-host of The Men's Table, said the original group asked themselves what worked and what kept them coming back, and eventually formed guidelines for each group to follow.
"In 2018 and the first table got together... they outlined some of those reasons and some of those what we now refer to as guidelines for conversation and then put that out to the public and got a lot of interest," he said.
"By the end of that year, there were seven tables, and now there's 97 tables across the country."
Mr Ball said there's three areas each table tries to avoid: politics, religion, and footy.
"People can have different opinions [on them] and that can be polarizing at times," he said.
"But the thing we all have in common is we all have feelings and we can't really doubt another man's feelings."
![The Men's Table groups are capped at 12 people, to ensure everyone gets adequate time to share their feelings. Picture supplied The Men's Table groups are capped at 12 people, to ensure everyone gets adequate time to share their feelings. Picture supplied](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/189568677/e847df53-320c-430a-aa09-d9829bf57fa8.jpg/r0_0_640_428_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
People have turned to the charity to share their thoughts on feelings about the most difficult times in their life, Mr Ball said.
The idea is men form a close friendship circle to support each other on their life journeys, while looking after their mental, emotional and social wellbeing.
According to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, loneliness tends to be more common in young adults and males with break-ups and unemployment common causes.
Social isolation can lead to mental illness, emotional distress, the development of dementia, poor health behaviours, smoking, physical inactivity, poor sleep, premature death and suicide.
Mr Ball said there are common themes in men that come to the table, but it's important to celebrate positives too.
"It's divorces, it's separations, it's death, people losing important people in their lives, loved ones, but also it's not just about the lows, we're we are there to share the highs," he said.
"There's some that come to tables who they've just had the birth of a child or they've just entered into a new relationship, a marriage and the table gives them that opportunity to share their feelings about the good stuff that's going on in life as well."
"Knowing that all of the other men are there for the same reason is really empowering and it helps men build trust in each other along the way."
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The only costs with the Men's Table is for a meal and drink, and Mr Ball said participants are asked to commit to nine out of 12 monthly meetings in order to build trust and accountability.
"That's a really important thing to make sure that men feel comfortable that other people are going to be showing up for them," Mr Ball said.
"We keep a cap on numbers so that every man gets a chance to share what's going on for them, and it also helps build that friendship and connection over time."
Launching with an "entree" at the Hibernian Hotel, Mr Ball said he hopes this will be the first of many Men's Tables in Bendigo.
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