Company: blOKes
Founder: Tom Home
Website: https://blokes.life
Business: blOKes is a not-for-profit mental health social enterprise aiming to help men with their mental health.
About Tom and blOKes
Founded in June 2020, blOKes is a not-for-profit mental health social enterprise that provides men (18+) with a safe, supportive, and non-judgemental digital platform to talk about their thoughts and feelings, connect with likeminded people, and tell a #MaleTale.
Via the website’s forum-based function, users can create a free blOKes account and join an online community of men all offering guidance and advice based on their own lived experiences with mental ill-health and illness.
blOKes is centred around championing and promoting peer-to-peer support – allowing men to open up, some for the first time, and support one another through tough times. The website also provides access to a range of professional mental health support services and charities.
blOKes was founded by Tom Home, who first struggled with mental illness while in his second year at Northumbria University. Following a failed suicide attempt, Tom was diagnosed with anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). After a happenstance conversation with his friends, during which Tom had a very open and frank conversation about his struggles, Tom saw first-hand the power of talking and normalising the conversation among men.
Another key offering that blOKes provides is supplying bespoke men’s mental health materials, resources, and workshops to schools, colleges, universities, sports clubs, businesses, and other organisations across the UK and Ireland. With this in mind, a significant challenge that blOKes encountered was having to operate fully remotely for the first 12 months after inception.
Despite this, thanks to continual input from Willow Grove Consultants – the organisation’s clinical partner, and a constantly adapting service, blOKes saw 500 members sign up to its platform within a year, coupled with recognition from national news outlets, including: BBC News, ITV News, Metro, The Telegraph, The Guardian, and UNILAD.
A key focus moving forward will be to work more closely with universities across the UK to provide the best possible support for male students aged 18-30. blOKes currently has 20 student ambassadors across 16 different universities, with the objective being to have at least one student ambassador across every UK university by September 2024.
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