Men’s Day to fulfill healthy masculinity

A free, one-day event for Nelson Tasman men to express their emotions and bring their health into the spotlight will be held this Saturday.

Coordinator Hardy Bachert says the international men’s day event will feature workshops hosted by men’s groups from Nelson, Richmond and Motueka to provide a light-hearted space to promote positive men’s health.

“There is a perception that men don’t talk… the old morals are about sucking it up, and staunch it out, you’ll get through it, and we’re trying to promote it, own your stuff, and reach out,” he says.

“We create an environment where guys can explore their situation, own their problems, and work on the root causes of why things might not be working so well.

“We’ll have buskers, chill out areas and dance workshops… and the other side of it is we’re going to have workshops and talks about issues that concern men, for example, relationship issues, financial issues, sexual issues, healthy boundaries, and how to deal with negativity in your mind.”

Hardy says the inaugural event was hosted last year.

“My expectation was there would be a lot of people who would stick their toe in it and stand on the sidelines, because there might be a bit of a preconceived idea that we’re all tree huggers,” he says.

“But what happened was that every single workshop was absolutely to capacity, and every workshop tried to go over time, so we had a massive engagement.

“This year we’re trying to have more chill out areas and we’re trying to have more opportunities to hang out.”

The event will be held at Victory Community Centre between 12pm and 6pm on 18 November.