Abergavenny is the focal point this Friday for a series of activities organised by Monmouthshire County Council to raise awareness of International Men’s Day and its theme Stop Male Suicide.

A key element will be a workshop at King Henry VIII School where employees from Monmouthshire’s Youth Service will lead discussions with students.

Youth worker Darryl White explained, “We’ve created a workshop to highlight male suicide and we’ll examine the contributing factors, while offering advice on talking about depression and directing people towards assistance.

“This should enable young people to link with key services or even a friend to help combat their concerns.”

Abergavenny Community Hub will also be involved - playing host, from 12noon, to a range of support and prevention organisations.

Men’s health screening advice will be available (bowel cancer screening and abdominal aortic aneurysm screening) while information will be provided on sight checks for older people and information will be available to enable them to make the correct choices on eye health.

The Healthy Homes Project, delivered by the South East Wales Energy Agency, will give guidance on maintaining and improving people’s health with energy efficiency measures to make homes warmer, drier and more affordable.

Staff from the South Wales Fire and Rescue will raise awareness of the importance of home fire safety checks - especially pertinent in the approach to Christmas.

Other organisations at the community hub will include Gambling Support Service, a free confidential service run by Newport CAB to reduce the impact of gambling-related harm, Managing Better – a partnership between Care and Repair Cymru, RNIB Cymru and Action on Hearing Loss Cymru helping older people across Wales manage better and stay safe in their own homes – and the Gwent Drug and Alcohol Service.

The Gwent Drug and Alcohol Service recognises that the families and loved ones of people who use substances may need as much support as the substance user themselves. This can include direct family, carers, neighbours, friends, support staff and anyone else connected to the person affected. It offers comprehensive therapeutic packages to families, friends and carers.

Monmouthshire’s cabinet member with responsibility for social care, safeguarding and health, Councillor Geoff Burrows said, “The objectives of International Men’s Day include a focus on male health and its theme for 2016 – Stop Male Suicide – recognises that across the globe far too many men take their own lives. We need to work together to reverse the pattern of male ill-health and suicide.”