AN Inverclyde men's mental health group are marking World Suicide Prevention Day by securing their future thanks to a £10,000 grant.

Man On Inverclyde, run by local man Chris Paul and a team of volunteers, have received a big cash boost from the National Lottery Community Fund.

The group, now based at their new Wellbeing Centre on Dellingburn Street, are hopeful that the funding will enable them to continue their work to prevent male suicides across Inverclyde.

As part of their plan to raise awareness of male mental health struggles during the national prevention week, the team have created a calendar of events.

Founder Chris said: "We knew we wanted to mark this week in a big way and speak to existing members and get the word out to men who have considered reaching out but haven't yet felt they could get in touch.

"We've created a variety of events from drop-in sessions at the Wellbeing Centre, online Zoom chats and social evenings to try and raise as many people as possible.

"We're also hosting social evenings on Fridays that will be paid for from the money that local man Mark Kerr recently raised for us doing a 20 mile walk.

"Numbers will be restricted at many of the events but we're hoping that our members will enjoy getting involved."

Since starting at the beginning of the year, the group has gone from strength to strength and now has almost 60 regular members who attend both the online sessions and the Wellbeing Centre.

The funding that has been secured will go towards continuing renovations at the premises which they took over in July as well as contributing to things such as counselling sessions for members.

Many of the volunteers, including Stephen Mclees, William Bethel, Michael Mitchell, Nikki Ward and Jason Moore who are pictured with Chris, all started with the group to overcome their own problems.

Jason, 21, said: "When I started I was genuinely surprised at how it was men of all ages who were involved.

"It's been great as so many friendships have formed.

"Guys have been meeting up on their own outwith our normal monthly coffee mornings at Nicolson's.

"At the start Chris and I were inundated with messages as well as both working full-time, so it is amazing how many people have come on board to help."

The group are also in talks with the Inverclyde Association for Mental Health to secure more funding to help maintain their presence in the area.

Chris added: "We hope to provide support to as many local men as possible.

"We've gone from strength to strength over the last few months and are so grateful to all who have supported us in any way.

"When men join our group, they take a 'pledge' to say that if they think about hurting themselves they will reach out and ask for help somewhere.

"That's what it's really all about, providing support to those who need it or who might not realise it's there."