Hi, my name is Lee and I am the walk leader for the Essington group of MWAT.

I am 39 yrs old and a serving member of the Armed forces, having deployed to various theatres across the globe it has shown me that looking after your mental health is probably the best thing you can do for yourself (apart from winning the lottery that does slightly trump it). Over the past 39 years, I have lost too many friends due their demons and had moments when mine had a hold of me and I had to reach out for someone to just listen.
During this time I have come to realise that most men don’t like to talk about themselves as many see it as weakness, when in fact our biggest strength is to reach out and open up. It is never the big things that push us over the edge but an accumulation of small things, hence there is even more of a reason to speak out early.

I massively encourage people to speak up, when people ask how are you, believe me just saying I’m not ok is the beginning of the journey to a more stable self . When I saw the Men Walking and Talking Facebook page, I immediately felt this was something I could do and discuss issues with others. I enjoy being outside in the fresh air and it would be fair to say, I like to chat rubbish about just about anything.