A COMMUNITY women’s group has announced plans to help vulnerable young men in the area.

The Women’s Community Matters Group (WCM) in Barrow has launched the pilot for their Time For Thought project yesterday (Tuesday) at the Nan Tait Centre on Abbey Road.

They invited 10 young men to the centre to talk about a variety of topics such as masculinity and identity in today’s world, mental wellbeing and healthy relationships.

They also spoke to members of the community about the project and what they hoped to achieve as a result.

Sam Woolgrove, Project Manager at WCM, said “We’re offering a personal development course for young men between the ages of 13 and 16.

“This will be a safe space for men to talk about being male and the challenges they face on a day to day basis.

“We’ll be covering issues such as sex, consent and sexual exploitation, as well as the pressure on men through masculine identity, celebrity culture and attitudes towards being emotional.

“The demand is there for this type of service. We’ve had requests come in for this type of thing for years but have never been able to offer it until now.”

Samuel Crothers is a project worker for WCM and will be leading the course when it starts in January. He said: “We’ll be running 12 weekly sessions here at the centre for young men as well as one on one sessions.

“We’ll also be taking this project in to schools in the community.”

Talking about how the pilot session went earlier in the day, Sam said: “It went really well, the young men really engaged with us, they were honest and open about what they wanted from the project.

“We want to enable these men to be who they want to be, so we’re willing to discuss topics other services might not.

“We aim to provide sustainable and consistent support.”

The course is funded by the Police Crime Commissioner Peter McCall.

He said: “I am delighted to be able to fund this innovative project which offers a programme of sessions aimed at vulnerable young men.

"The programme will give young men the opportunity reach a point where they feel enabled to become active citizens.”