A NEW mental health support group specifically for women will hold its first meeting in Helensburgh next week.
Females Tales will officially launch on Tuesday, April 20 after John Lewis, founder of parent group Males Tales, decided to branch out the organisation.
Four local volunteers are involved in the running of the women’s peer support sessions, including John’s wife Meresa, and another of them - Lauren McLaughlin-Gardiner - said she leapt at the opportunity to help out.
Lauren, who lives in Shandon and is due to finish her career with the Royal Navy in January after 22 years, told the Advertiser: “My previous job with the Navy was as a professional divisional officer delivering pastoral care for servicemen and women who were dealing with quite complex life situations, and that involved physical injuries, mental health and complex family situations.
“I did that for two-and-a-half years and it was a positive, reactive role involving quite a lot of coaching and support so that people didn’t have to deal with that alone.
“I’m quite in tune with helping people and I’m passionate about not fixing it, but helping them along the way.
“I offered my services when John was establishing the group, and I leapt at the opportunity to help with Females Tales.
“It’s very rewarding to help people but I also like to have new experiences and develop as a person, so that if a situation arises in the future I’ve got the toolkit to help.”
Lauren has previously helped out with the ManKind initiative which offers Support for male victims of domestic abuse and violence
Mum-of-two Lauren, 39, will act as a support lead at Females Tales, which is a free group for any women aged over 16 to join with no registration required.
Having dealt first-hand with a range of mental health issues in her professional capacity, and adapted her own situation over the last year due to the impact of the pandemic, Lauren believes now is the perfect time to grow the support group.
“At the moment myself and my family are isolated because our family is in England and we have been since August,” she said.
READ MORE: Males Tales founder issues warning over impact of lockdown easing
“We’re living in different times now where perhaps people have to look at different ways of finding that support and friendship.
“People have had life-changing adjustments and they’ve not had any time to prepare themselves mentally.
“They might have coped fine going into lockdown but we’re about to start a new chapter of this scenario where people are having to do the reverse, so that’s another change cycle and you don’t know how you’re going to react.
Meresa Lewis
“Sometimes it can take people by surprise and it’s all unfamiliar territory.”
Males Tales has made rapid progress in the near-18 months since it was formed, and Lauren is hopeful that the new group can enjoy similar success.
READ MORE: New mental health service opens its doors at Vale of Leven Hospital
She added: “Time should tell whether there is the demand for this group.
“It’s one of those things where it might be not so busy now, but even if you’re there to support a couple of people it will be worthwhile.
“It’s not just about the negative aspects of a support group, it’s about sharing good times also, celebrating achievements and things like that.
“People can come along just for friendship and companionship too. It’s not all about if you’ve got a problem - it’s just about not being alone, no matter what your circumstances are.”
Females Tales will meet on Tuesday, April 20 at 7pm in the Drumfork Community Centre. Visit malestales.co.uk for more details.
READ MORE: Check out all the latest news headlines from across Helensburgh and Lomond here
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