It’s autumn 2025, and I’ve just finished building this website — MENd. You might be wondering who I am and why I started this.
To answer that, I need to go back ten years, to 26th October 2015 — the day my dad died. I was holding his hand when he passed. That day changed everything. It was the moment my world fell apart, but really, the cracks had been there since childhood. Because the man who died that day wasn’t just my dad — he was also my abuser. Not in a sexual way, but through years of violence and emotional damage.
In his final years, I became his carer. I couldn’t understand why I cared for someone who’d hurt me so deeply. After he died, I spiralled — which eventually led to a suicide attempt and a prison sentence.
What saved me in the end wasn’t medication or time. It was talking.
Therapy gave me a space to finally say the things I’d buried for decades. I realised just how much I’d bottled up — and how bad that silence had been. If I’d spoken out earlier, maybe things would have turned out differently. But then again, maybe I wouldn’t be here now, typing this, determined to help other men open up before they reach breaking point.
We men are good at pretending we’re fine. I never opened up when I was younger — none of us did. But I’m 43 now, and my mates and I talk about things we’d never have dared to 15 years ago. That’s progress. Still, the stigma around men’s mental health runs deep. When I first went into therapy, I couldn’t handle group sessions. I needed one-to-one conversations — talking, being honest. That’s what worked for me.
So that’s why I started MENd: to help men talk.
I’m not a therapist, and I don’t claim to be. My qualification comes from experience — from hitting the very bottom and somehow finding my way back up.
Right now, it’s just me. I’ll meet up with any man locally — we’ll go for a walk and a chat. It doesn’t matter what it’s about: work stress, relationship problems, loneliness, depression. We can grab a coffee — it’s on me. No judgement. No pressure. Just two men having an honest conversation.
My hope is that this grows — that other men who’ve been through dark times join in to help others. Maybe you’re reading this in 2025 and you’ll be my first walk and talk. Maybe it’s 2030, and there are hundreds of us walking and talking across West London. Who knows?
All I know is that talking saved my life — and I want to help it save someone else’s too.
Nicholas Griffith
Founder, MENd
To help men open up about their mental health through simple, judgement-free walk-and-talks in West London.
Because sometimes the hardest thing to do is just start talking.
MENd isn’t a counselling service or a therapy session — it’s a conversation between two people.
Here’s how it works:
Right now, it’s just me — Nicholas, the founder — meeting up locally for walk and talks.
But over time, I hope MENd grows into a community where other men who’ve been through tough times can walk, talk, and listen too.
If you’ve overcome your own struggles and want to give back, I’d love to hear from you. Together we can build something that helps men across West London — and hopefully beyond.
Too many men stay silent until it’s too late.
We bottle things up, we hide it, and we tell ourselves to “man up.”
MENd is here to change that — one walk and one conversation at a time.
Important: This is not therapy or professional counseling. For urgent needs, call 999 or Samaritans (116 123).
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