VIDEO: Male staff at Northern release important message ahead of International Men’s Day 2022

Seeking to highlight the importance of physical and mental health check-ups, they compare the regular and intricate maintenance checks the trains they work on are subject to with the reluctance some men working on those very trains have to getting their own ‘MOT’.

They’re encouraging men to be more comfortable talking about their health needs and less embarrassed to discuss issues around mental health.

Please click here to watch the video message.

Nick Donovan, managing director of Northern, said: “I applaud our male staff for speaking up on a topic that, for some reason, many men still feel uncomfortable talking about.

“The statistics around some of the health conditions raised in their video message are really tough to hear – particularly so because we know some of them are fuelled by a reluctance to seek help at the early stages of those conditions.”

As part of ‘Movember’, Northern has been organising one-to-one and group sessions on resilience for their male staff in partnership with the men’s mental health charity, CHAPS and the male suicide prevention charity, Andy’s Man Club.

Donovan added: “We’re grateful to our partners at CHAPS and Andy’s Man Club for their help in shining a spotlight on some of the biggest issues facing men in the UK today.”

International Men’s Day is an annual event to celebrate men and boys in all their diversity. In the UK, it focusses on three key themes:

• Making a positive difference to the wellbeing and lives of men and boys
• Raising awareness and/or funds for charities supporting men and boys’ wellbeing
• Promoting a positive conversation about men, manhood and masculinity

Northern is the second largest train operator in the UK, with nearly 2,000 services a day to more than 500 stations across the North of England.