East Belfast Community Development Agency

What a busy couple of months February and March is for men’s activities with a great variety of activities for men to choose from.  The interventions all used a number of environmental situations to support wellbeing, physical activity, health issues and mental health.

The Open Meeting at Belvoir Forest Park Office on Wednesday morning 16^th February attracted 25 men for a tour of their exhibition and an interactive talk about the seasons by RSPB’s Stephanie Simm.  This was followed by an opportunity to reminisce about men’s work at the Docks by gifted author and poet John Campbell from sailor’s town.

The Get Active Men's Group took a well deserved break from their work at the ‘You Dig it Garden’ at Carew II to take on a walk and tour of Derry’s Walls on Wednesday 16^th March 2011.  Traveling by train they met a couple of groups of men also taking advantage of their free transport passes to sightsee and get some physical exercise.  The weather was kind and although there were a few aches and pains much was learned from this unique experience for some of the men.

Greenway Santa Cyclist took place but it was third time lucky on Sunday 20^th March 2011, with three members of the Get Active Group taking part and everyone thoroughly enjoyed a well organised event with lots of support and encouragement along the way.  The group plan to raise £300 for the charity of Bowel Cancer.

The Cregagh Retired Active Gentlemen Group that normally meets in the Community Centre on Thursday afternoons took time out on St Patrick’s Day to take the Titanic Walking Tour. Ten men survived the fresh weather to explore the site and enjoy the interactive talk by a knowledgeable guide.

A Stormont Tour with Q&A with Health Minister Michael McGimpsey was on offer to meet members of the Wise Men Network on 21^st March 2011 along with members of the Finglas Men’s Network from Dublin with whom there has been a long standing relationship of sharing concerns about men’s health.  This proved to be a very successful opportunity to also meet many of the MLAs from all the different parties in the Great Hall, who took the time to talk to the men between meetings of the Assembly.  Unfortunately Michael was not able to attend the Q&A so Dr Naresh Chada (Senior Medical Officer DHSSPS) and Mr Gerard Collins (Assistant Director Health Improvement Policy Branch) attended to facilitate a full discussion about inequalities in health and issues around accessing services.  Included were questions around screening of men aged 50+ in relation to Prostate Specific Antigen (PSA) test, domestic violence and barriers to health promotion in relation to masculinity and the lack of a focused health service for men by GPs.

Further information can be obtained from the Networks website:

www.wise-men.org.uk/ or contact: Alan Houston Tel. 90451512 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .