Ep:#66 How to stop men taking their own lives with Ben Akers

TIE Unearthed - A podcast by Philippa White

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How are you out of 10? These 6 words have saved lives. And today you’re going to hear how. Did you know that the biggest killer of boys and men from 9 – 50 is suicide? That’s one man every 90 minutes in the UK. Why is that? In 2014 my friend Ben Aker’s life was turned upside down with the suicide of his childhood best friend Steve Yates. After years of trying to come to terms with this tragedy, he decided to use his power to stop the next Steve. And today you’re going to hear Ben talk about how to stop men taking their own lives. Ben is the co-CEO and co-Founder of Talk Club, a talking and listening charity for men.  Ben is also a film maker, problem solver and mental health campaigner.  He began his career as an advertising copywriter and grew to a multi award winning Creative Director at some of the world’s most creative ad agencies in London and Sydney. We talk about the creation of his changementary “Steve”. We talk about how Talk Club was born and the major ingredients to its success. Ben gives advice to anyone out there that’s listening that may be having a hard time. And as a special treat, Ben then lets us in on his genius solution when it comes to funding his charity. “Not everyone has to be there with their hands out”. This is a tough subject, but one that needs to be talked about, and today you’re going to learn some simple ways to help those people closest to you. So grab that favourite beverage or throw on those running shoes, and here is Ben. Please don’t forget to let us know what you think of this episode, leave a review and subscribe. And if you would like to be reminded of future podcasts and other inspiring stories from TIE, join our newsletter here. http://bit.ly/TIENewsletter Check out: Talk Club:  TalkClub.org “Steve” Trailer:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XEp5ck-DYzI Full film:  stevedocumentary.com TED talk: https://youtu.be/Y9FEQYp1imc OurKidsOurLives: https://www.gofundme.com/f/ourkidsourlives Instagram:  @STEVEDOCUMENTARY @Madewithltd @TalkClubUK @ourkidsourlives Twitter:   @SteveDoco  + @benakers @Madewith_ @TalkClubUK @ourkidsourlives Linked in:   https://www.linkedin.com/in/ben-akers-39873729