Breaking bread and breaking down barriers

A PEER support initiative for men spearheaded by not-for-profit organisation, the Men’s Table, has launched in Queenscliff, providing local men the opportunity to develop and find support in meaningful relationships.

The charity aims to improve the mental, emotional and social wellbeing of men through group camaraderie and the encouragement of healthy masculinities.

Each Table is comprised of a group of up to 14 men who meet at a designated venue each month for a meal and chat.

To ensure a safe and accessible space, dinners are hosted in restaurants with a private room and there are no financial requirements for attendees – all they pay for is the cost of their meal.

Men’s Table regional host, Dan Ball, said the organisation was about “enabling men to find a voice”.

“With men, I don’t think we do a great job of maintaining deep connections with other men,” he said.

“We get to an age in life where we’re like, ‘okay, where are my actual friends? Where are the people I can pick up the phone and talk to about what’s going on for me?’

“The Men’s Table is a place for men to do that and knowing that all the chaps that are there are there for the same reason, take away the judgement, takes away the stigma, for truly taking about how we’re feeling.”

The concept began in 2011 when its Sydney-based founders started meeting informally to talk about their lives beyond the surface level.

In 2018, that same group decided to present the concept to the rest of Sydney.

“Fast forward to where we are today, there are 160 Men’s Tables across the country,” Ball said.

“This is the first time we’ve been in Queenscliff and it’s clearly striking a chord with men there as well as across the state.”

In 2020, after experiencing a number of large changes in his own life, Ball joined the charity’s first Victorian Men’s Table based in Melbourne’s CBD.

“I was at a point where I was questioning who I could really open up to,” he said.

“I’d built all my friendships mainly based upon sport and so I had a lot of surface level relationships, a lot of people I knew but not many people I knew well.”

In his role as regional host, Ball now helps set up other Men’s Tables around the state.

“Everyone needs to eat, right?” Ball said.

“For us, it’s just a case of picking up a knife and fork and spending a couple of hours with 10, 12 other chaps talking about the deeper stuff in life.”

“It’s not just being comfortable to talk about feelings with the other men at the table, but the knock-on effects that ripple out into the community.”

And those ripple effects are broad, with the charity’s 2022 community impact report highlighting benefits including a decreased reliance on alcohol and other substances, an increased sense of belonging, and positive effects on relationships beyond the Table.

The Men’s Table now has its sights set on a number of other locations throughout the Greater Geelong and Surf Coast region, with a forthcoming table already planned for Clifton Springs and hopes another will follow in Torquay.

To find out more, or to attend an information session – affectionately known as an entrée – visit themenstable.org.