About Us

Our Journey

ManHealth, born from a personal battle with depression, stands as a lifeline in the North East of England. Challenging societal norms that pressure men into silence, we offer free, weekly peer support groups led by men who’ve walked similar paths. Beyond individual support, our accredited training for businesses helps fund these groups and raises vital awareness on mental and physical health issues. More than just a service, ManHealth is a movement, changing attitudes towards mental health and empowering men to reclaim control over their lives and wellbeing.

Empathy & Support

Providing a Safe Space for Open Dialogue.

Bridging the Gap

Changing Attitudes,
Empowering Lives.

Growth & Resilience

Nurturing Mental Well-being and Community Strength.

Meet Our Team

Paul Bannister

Founder & Lead Trainer

Paul is highly skilled trainer having worked in the education sector for over 20 years and delivered workplace training on men’s health for many years. Paul is driven by his own lived experience of poor mental ill health and he is passionate about raising awareness about health care for men. Encouraging men to practice and implement healthy living decisions. Such as getting routine screenings for diseases prevalent in males―high blood pressure, diabetes, prostate and bowel cancer―and managing mental health issues. Good health for men also improved health includes exercising and eating healthy and improving health awareness which many men lack. Paul strives empower people to adopt a more positive relationship with themselves by learning self-compassion.

Kevin McMullan

Trainer

Kevin is part of the ManHealth Training Team and is responsible for delivering work based training interventions on various aspects of men's health. Following a background in the higher education sector, Kevin draws on his own experiences of accessing, attending and recovery through the peer support groups as part of his wellness journey. His personal story informs much of the course content and he seeks to share and use his real world experiences to upskill, inform and empower men to adopt their own help seeking attitude. He is passionate about addressing the inequalities in male healthcare outcomes and keen to promote a supportive culture that encourages and enables men to take control their own wellbeing.

Karen Ingham

Trainer

Karen has extensive Strategic leadership experience from her former full-time Vice President role with Expedia, and her Non Executive Board positions with Newcastle Building Society & Ramsdens PLC. She is keen to support ManHealth build and maintain a strong strategy and Business plan to ensure we can help more men (and women) to improve their health and wellbeing. She is passionate about health and wellbeing after personal health challenges and supporting family members with mental ill health for almost 30 years. She studied counselling and Psycotherapy at Durham university, and is a qualified mental health first aider. Outside of work Karen taught herself to run aged 55 during lock down having never even run a bath!.. and you will often find her in the kitchen cooking up a healthy storm, or spending time with family.

Jo Hall

Trainer

I have worked in the Health and Social Care sector for 27 years. Having spent time raising a large family and advising mortgages I studied my first BaHons in Childhood Studies in 2002. I then supported Children and Young People in schools across the northeast for 10 years. After this I went on to start my journey as a Person-Centred therapist working alongside Adults, Children and Young People across various agencies. My interest in Jungian sand therapy and psychoanalytical thinking bloomed and since then I have worked as a Lecturer and course lead at Stockton Riverside College and a lecturer at Sunderland University. I work as a Private Psychotherapist, with specialisms in Self-Injury and Sandplay. I feel passionate about research in counselling and therefore my current projects include a Duoethnography around body image and a PhD where I am writing an autoethnographic study: ‘Therapists emotional reactions to working with clients who self-injure’. I write and deliver a portfolio of mental health workshops for myself and other organisations.

Staying quiet about your struggles does not work. Our culture is definitely getting better at talking openly about mental ill health, but we still have a way to go. Many men still feel ashamed at confessing their own struggles. It’s this shame of the fear of judgement by others, this stigma which we have to challenge.

Paul Bannister
Founder
ManHealth

Mission and Values

ManHealth is not a suicide prevention service but we do prevent suicide

Our Vision

To play a vital role in supporting men and building healthier communities.

Our Mission

To empower men experiencing mental and/or physical ill health through support, education and shared experience.

About Us

Our Journey

Empathy & Support

Bridging the Gap

Growth & Resilience

Meet Our Team

Paul Bannister

Kevin McMullan

Karen Ingham

Jo Hall

Mission and Values

Our Vision

Our Mission

Keep Updated with ManHealth Training

Male Victims of Domestic Abuse

Launch of the New LiveWell Workshop

Men’s Health in the UK: A Critical Examination

Ready to Make a Difference?