In our recent wellbeing survey, many male carers said that they felt they would benefit from access to an all-male support group. 

So, a warm welcome to the KCN Men’s Group: a group for male carers to enjoy and share hobbies and other activities: activities or hobbies that you might have tried before – or new ones that you would like to try out. 

My name is Ian and I am the new Men’s Group Facilitator at KCN. 

Your role as a carer is demanding and full of responsibility, but it is important for all of us in our busy lives that we find time for ourselves. After all, you can’t pour from an empty cup: you need to look after yourself so that you can take care of others. One of the best ways for us to do this is to find time to do things that we enjoy, that are engaging and rewarding, and perhaps at the same time learn something new or pick up new skills. 

My plan is to organise activities for our male adult carers to do just that. Examples might be snooker, table tennis, tennis, bowling, 5-a-side football, board games, chess, quizzes, cooking. We might organise information/advice sessions, talks on nutrition or health or cooking, or on computers/IT. 

We might go to watch a football match, visit a brewery, go for walks, visit a historic place, have wellbeing or mindfulness sessions. 

But these are just ideas: my focus is on you and what you would like me to organise. You pick, you choose. Anything goes (almost)! 

So please will you let me have your ideas and suggestions by answering our online survey?

Please take a look at our questionnaire (which we are also sending out by post) and complete this either online or by sending it back to me in the post. That will really help me to get a better idea of what sort of activities you would like me to organise. 

I will also arrange a Zoom meeting for any of you who want to find out more, have any suggestions or have any questions. Please let me know by email if you are interested in participating in a Zoom meeting and I will send you a link in due course. Please let me know what times would usually be best for you for a meeting. 

I really look forward to meeting many of you over the coming weeks, either in person, on the telephone or online, and hearing your thoughts about how we can together map the future of the KCN Men’s Group. 

In the meantime, if you have any thoughts questions or suggestions, please drop me a reply to this email: I would love to hear from you. 

You can also contact me on 07305 099 303. Please bear in mind that as I work part time there may be a delay in my response.  

Best wishes 

Ian Bellinger 
Men’s Group Facilitator 
mensgroup@kingstoncarers.org.uk 
07305 099 303