Brew York has joined forces with a North East Brewery to lead a nationwide campaign to help raise money and awareness on men’s mental health.

The brewery, which has operations in Walmgate and Handley Park, is working with North East Brewery McColl’s, to launch the Mayday project – a national collaboration with four other breweries and 25 venues across the UK.

The aim is to reduce the stigma surrounding men’s mental health, get people talking, and raise as much money as possible for three causes.

The initiative will include a range of special edition brews being sold in each of the participating venues – including Brew York’s Bavarian-style Beer Hall – from Friday April 26.

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Beers will also be sold on McColl’s Brewery’s website for anyone wishing to support the campaign and enjoy great beer.

15p from every can and pint sold will be divided between men’s health causes Man Up?, The Grieving Pint and Men’s Pie Club.

Lee Grabham, Production Director and Co-Founder of Brew York, said: “Having been admirers from a far of the great work that McColl’s Brewery were doing to champion the often taboo cause of men’s mental health through their Men’s Pie Club beers, we were thrilled to be asked to participate in their Mayday project.

“With the hard physical work and access to alcohol in our industry, men’s mental health issues are frequently present but rarely addressed, so it’s great to be part of anything that sparks conversation and genuine action to confront these challenges. More power to Danny and McColl’s Brewery for bringing this into the spotlight.”

Owner of McColl’s Brewery, Danny McColl, and head brewer, Simon Whittington, have spearheaded the project.

“It’s something that’s really close to my heart,” said Danny, who suffers with ongoing mental health issues and who already works with Men’s Pie Club.

“For me, it was work-life balance which swelled into making my mental health a massive issue. The workload became a crucial tipping point. I was overwhelmed.

“This project is a way to help men to talk, get out the situation they’re in and realise there’s help out there. We want to develop the conversation and try to break down the macho stigma of blokes and beer.

The new beers have been fittingly named, with drinks such as A Problem Shared, a West Coast IPA; Changing Minds, a hoppy table beer; Life Raft, a session pale, plus three more expressions.

Chris Smith, Programme Manager at Men’s Pie Club, said:  “It is heart-warming to see that men's mental health is no longer being overlooked, and the Mayday Project has the potential to put the messages of Men's Pie Club, Man Up?, The Grieving Pint and similar projects into the glasses of people across the country. If this sparks even one more important chat, helps one more person, then it will already have been worth it.”