Rammy Men CIC
/ June 2023We recently awarded funding to Rammy Men CIC in Ramsbottom, Lancashire. The community interest company set up after a couple of local men took their own lives. They looked into why, and discovered a pattern of extremely poor mental health and suicide amongst recently retired men, coupled with an unwillingness or inability to get the help they needed from health services.
They very quickly realised that loneliness and isolation were huge factors, along with a sense of worthlessness and a lack of reason to get up and out each day - no hope, no purpose, and no friends.
In an attempt to address these issues, in a way that people could easily engage with, they began running mental-health support sessions, but disguised them as activities. For example, they found that if they invited people to come and discuss anxiety then no-one would turn up, but if they ran a woodwork shop or a ukulele group then people came along... and discussed their anxiety.
Rammy Men CIC were having terrible trouble with access to their building for disabled people. This was precluding the attendance at their sessions of a significant number of their target audience. Originally, there were only three steps into their building, but they were big steps and impossible for wheelchair users to manoeuvre without the indignity of being lifted into the premises.
They were under the impression in the initial stages that they were going to have to build a ramp with a large gradient. However, they later learned from talking to the guard on a train, that they could use a temporary ramp which was a lot shorter and this was what they managed to buy. They purchased an aluminium, folding, light and sturdy ramp which came in two parts with extra support halfway up. It is very quick and easy to use and can be set up in about three minutes.
For those who’ve never been able to attend their sessions, or those who they have had to lift into the building, the ramp has been an absolute godsend. Loneliness and isolation are the issues they predominantly set out to address, and so having a building that everyone can access has been a huge stepping stone for their service.
The ramp, alongside their two disabled parking spaces, now helps their most lonely and isolated community members to get to their sessions, and join in with all of their activities. It also means that they can create sessions specifically for those people. They are currently working with a lady who is about to set up and run chair-based exercise sessions, meditation sessions and more. One of their directors also started weekly afternoon sessions for local care home residents, with a quiz, music, food and some entertainment.
The feedback report that they provided states that, overall, this grant is amongst the most significantly impactful of any they've received, as it has helped those most in need in their community.