A new group that encourages men to walk and talk in a bid to help improve their mental health has been set up by an RAF worker in Lincoln.
Men Walking and Talking is a UK-wide organisation that was first founded in Telford in 2021 and which has since established 65 different groups across the country. In 2025, it was praised by Sir Keir Starmer in parliament and labelled a “band of brothers”.
Now local lad Jamie Hudson has launched the newest branch right here in Lincoln.
The 36-year-old was inspired to do so after coming to the conclusion he knew too many men who “have had or are having mental health issues” and were not seeking support.
He said: “Mental health often doesn’t become apparent until it reaches a certain critical point. For a whole lot of big, complicated, subtle reasons, men generally don’t feel comfortable speaking about mental health issues. There’s the phrase, boys don’t cry.
“So I thought, if I can do something about that by being the kind of person they need or just by being there to speak to and get stuff off their chest, that’s very easy for me to do.”
The group will meet every Wednesday at 6:30pm in Cornhill Quarter and walks will last an hour.
The route will take in the city centre, University of Lincoln campus, Brayford Pool and finish back at the Cornhill Quarter. It is free of charge with no need to book.
He added: “Quite often [when men are having mental health issues] they can feel a little bit ashamed by it, naturally, because that’s how we’ve been brought up.
“But if you feel that way, disregard that feeling completely, because that’s not helping you. Come and have a go anyway. What’s the worst that can happen?”
Steve Gregson, a director with Men Walking and Talking, said he was delighted that Lincoln would now have a branch of the group.
He said: “It’s a very rewarding and fulfilling thing to do.”
Speaking about his own local group in Huddersfield, the 38-year-old said; “We had a chap come down a while ago who was brought down by his wife. As I got chatting to him, he said this is the first time he’d been out of my house in the evening in a long time. ‘How long?’ I asked. He said ‘two and a half years’. I couldn’t believe it.
“But he and his wife saw about the group on social media and thought it would be a good place for him to chat to other blokes – and it was.”
For mor infomration about both the national and Lincoln groups, visit the Men Walking and Talking website.
