Men in West Cumbria are still dying too young and too often in silence.
In this conversation with Colin Cox, Director of Public Health for Cumberland, this episode looks at what sits underneath that reality.
West Cumbria is a place of contrasts. Beautiful landscapes and strong, close communities sit alongside real and persistent challenges, poverty, poor health, isolation and suicide rates that remain far too high, particularly among men.
This is not about labelling a region. It is about trying to understand it more honestly.
Colin speaks with real clarity and care about that. During COVID, many people locally came to rely on public health voices for reassurance and direction. Colin became one of those trusted figures, helping communities make sense of an uncertain time.
His latest report, Man up?, challenges something deeper than behaviour. It asks whether the old ideas of masculinity we have inherited are still helping men or quietly harming them.
In a place shaped by hard, physical, often dangerous work, stoicism was once a strength. It got people through. But it may also have left a legacy where too many men still feel they have to cope alone.
So perhaps the question is not “man up”.
Perhaps it is, how do we make it easier for men to open up?
How do we build communities where strength includes vulnerability and where asking for help is recognised as courage, not weakness?
This is a thoughtful and compelling conversation about place, identity and what might need to change.
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