New charity uses outdoors to improve mental health

A new charity hopes to use activities ranging from cold-water swimming and archery to hill walking and breathwork to improve men's mental health and reduce isolation.

Connect Outdoors is being officially launched alongside an International Men's Day event at the Venture Centre in Maughold, where organisers expect about 80 people to take part in a range of outdoor activities.

The charity said it wanted to gather research on what kind of support men are most likely to engage with, arguing that services have often been designed without asking men first.

Chief executive Kate Bergquist said it had grown out of years of work in social care, public services and outdoor wellbeing programmes.

She said: "We have this abundance of landscape on the island that is never used enough for health.

"This should be embedded into everyone's health and wellbeing routine every week."

Activities on offer include high ropes, bushcraft, mindfulness, breathwork, yoga, archery, ice baths and guided walks, alongside informal spaces designed to encourage men to connect with one another.

The charity is built around what is known as "green and blue health", which encourages people to use natural environments such as forests, beaches and the sea to improve their health.

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