AN INDEPENDENT male mental health charity will be kicking off their first event in unison with the North Cumbria Recovery College.

Offload, the organisation which looks to 'bridge the gap between self and professional help', will be bringing their support sessions once a week to The Lookout, Shady Grove, Carlisle.

The founder and peer support worker for Cumbria, Northumberland, Tyne and Wear NHS Foundation Trust (CNTW), Liam Edmondson, will be combining his personal and professional experience from working within an acute mental health ward to help deliver a dutiful support service.

"It's designed to get to people before they reach crisis point, but also equally for people who have been sectioned previously, offering a space within the community they can keep coming back to, keeping on top of their mental health," he said.

The support group looks to give those dealing with the disorder a chance to share problems and collectively come up with coping strategies.

"I like to think it's not your stereotypical support groups such as AA, but more like an adult male youth club, often a lot of the time it's not even about mental health directly, but more indirect help that could end up leaving the members talking about anything such as Carlisle United," he said.

The reason as to why it's male centred is that, Liam has experienced men don't open up as much when it's a mixed group.

At the moment, the group is the first of it's kind in Carlisle and meets twice a week.

"We're trying to reach as many people as possible with this new session, and eventually the idea is to spread Offload to the whole of Cumbria," he said.

The new sessions will take place at 10am on Tuesday, and you can guarantee your spot by registering on the Offload website or Facebook page.