{jcomments off}The Irish Cancer Society has launched a high profile awareness campaign to coincide with Men’s Health Week 2011 titled: “Prostate - There, I’ve said it”.  This campaign is designed to tackle the stigma and embarrassment that surrounds prostate cancer.  It is being fronted by Irish media personalities Bryan Dobson, Matt Cooper and Micheál O’Muircheartaigh.  Prostate cancer is the second most common cancer in men in Ireland after skin cancer.  Over the course of their lifetime, men have a one in eight chance of developing prostate cancer.  According to the most recent statistics, 2,859 men were diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2009, with 92% of the cases occurring in men over 55.  However, men need to be reassured that prostate cancer is increasingly a disease that men live with rather than die of.  The Irish Cancer Society is also conducting a survey targeted at men with prostate cancer.  This will be available until 29th June 2011 at: www.cancer.ie/prostate or by contacting the National Cancer Helpline on Freefone 1800 200 700.

{jcomments off}The “Fathers and Sons - Staying Connected” programme offers a package of training and support to anyone in Northern Ireland who wishes to engage with men (as fathers, step-fathers, grandfathers, uncles and carers for children) in order to look at the issues of relationships, communication, and promoting positive mental health among the boys that they care for.  This Train the Trainers programme will cover: facilitation and group work skills (for those who require them); how to use the specialist course manual; running course activities; best practice in recruiting for and delivering fathers’ courses; mentoring and support.  You are invited to attend one of two information seminars to find out more about the programme.  These will take place on Tuesday 21st June 2011 (10.30am - 12.30pm, in Derry), and on Tuesday 28th June 2011 (10.30am - 12.30pm, in Belfast).  To register your interest in attending either of these events, please contact Pauline Martin, Parenting Forum Northern Ireland, at Tel: 02890 310891 or Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

{jcomments off}Many men are interested in playing sports, but sometimes (if you're new to an area or just visiting / passing thorugh) it seems impossible to break-in to the existing set-up and to find a way to get involved.  FunnyOldGame.com is a new innovative Irish website with a simple aim - to bring sport to the people.  It offers a one-stop-shop for the management of 'player pools' in popular team sports such as 5-a-side football, volleyball, hockey and basketball.  It also manages invitations and acceptances, reduces player shortages, and ensures a player rotation policy that is fair to everyone.  Currently, FunnyOldGame has a user base approaching 500 men.  Whilst taking the pain out of organising events, the unique features such as ‘reliability rating’ or ‘peer rating’ can also encourage/motivate users to commit to and participate in sports.  FunnyOldGame.com is accessible through the web, iPhone and even through text messages.  Increased health and well being through sports participation is a welcome by-product, and it is a free service for the individual user.  Find out more at: www.funnyoldgame.com

{jcomments off}The European Men's Health Forum (EMHF) is running a pioneering web-based service which allows men to ask questions about any aspect of prostate health, and to receive answers from a highly qualified health professional within 48 hours.  This is all done anonymously and confidentially.  The questions which are asked will enable EMHF to gather information on European men's experience of prostate problems, seeking support, diagnosis and treatment, and the responses they have had from health service providers in regard to these issues.  This data will form the basis of a report to help health professionals and policy makers to deal with men's prostate-related healthcare.  Visit www.yourprostate.eu for more details.

{jcomments off}The Men’s Health Forum in Ireland (MHFI) is, currently, undertaking research into the high rate of suicide among boys and young men on the island of Ireland.  The research is being jointly funded by the Public Health Agency and the National Office for Suicide Prevention.  The purpose of the research is to develop and share best practice on how to promote positive models of mental health and to prevent suicide in this target group.  MHFI is asking for your help with this initiative.

A central component of this research is a questionnaire that seeks the views and experiences of stakeholders in relation to mental health promotion and suicide prevention activities on the island of Ireland.  The questionnaire is particularly focused on organisations' experiences of the challenges and barriers when working with young men.  The findings from the questionnaire will be used to inform the design of a follow-up intervention and will, on conclusion of the overall project, be disseminated back to stakeholders as part of an overall report.

We would be extremely grateful if you would participate in this project.  To complete the survey, please click on the link below:

https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/Suicidepreventioninyoungmensini

Please be assured of absolute confidentiality and anonymity in completing the survey.  Although we are asking for the name of your organisation, findings from the survey will be collated without reference to any specific organisation.  We greatly value your input, and appreciate the time you take to complete the survey.  The survey will take 5 - 10 minutes to complete, and should be completed by 3rd June 2011.

If you would like to discuss any aspect of the survey, or to find out more about the Men’s Health Forum in Ireland, please feel free to contact Colin Fowler (Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.; Tel: 0044 751 9945261).

{jcomments off}Carlow Men's Health Project (CMHP) works to support vulnerable men in Carlow town and county to achieve optimum health and well being via a health promotion approach.  CMHP now wishes to establish a 'Men’s Shed' in Carlow town - in keeping with the Men’s Shed movement nationally (see www.menssheds.ie).  To achieve this goal, CMHP is issuing an invitation to tender for a coordinator for this initiative.  The tender will be awarded in May 2011, and it is envisaged that the successful applicant will carry out the work over a minimum of 2 days per week until 31st December 2011.  All tenders must be submitted, in writing, by 5.00pm on Friday 6th May 2011.  For more details click here (PDF file).

{jcomments off}Even if you don’t do anything else to support Men’s Health Week (MHW) this year, you can at least put up a poster to let everyone know when it’s taking place!  To highlight MHW 2011, local comedians Joe Rooney (Father Ted and Killinaskully) and Paul Tylak (Stew and Messers Tylak and Rooney) are starring in an Ireland-wide poster campaign to raise awareness of the week.  The message for men is very simple: “These are challenging times.  It’s no joke.  Let’s talk”.  The posters are available in hard copy (A3 size) and as electronic files (A4 size).  Details are available at: www.mhfi.org/mens-health-week-2011.html#Poster  To add an extra element of creativity, the Men’s Health Forum in Ireland (MHFI) will soon be inviting organisations and individuals to put on their thinking caps, and come up with captions for a special version of the poster.  This will seek to highlight some of the issues that men are facing at the minute.  More details will appear on the MHFI website soon.

{jcomments off}Men’s Health Week (MHW) will look very different this year.  For the first time in Ireland, there will be a common logo and an image pack which can be used, for free, by everyone who wishes to raise awareness of the week.  These are important promotional tools - as one of the key aims this year is to let as many people as possible know about the week.  The logo is available in a range of sizes and formats, there is a selection of web banners on offer, and there’s even a “We Support Men’s Health Week” image - for groups and individuals who want to be seen to be ‘doing their bit’!  Details of all of these can be found online at: www.mhfi.org/mens-health-week-image-pack.html