Soccer, barbeques, golf and camaraderie have been the key to the success of mental health charity Mongrels Men, says founder Tim Hewson who is Westfield Local Hero.
Balgowlah’s Tim Hewson has dedicated over a decade to motivating and creating a connection space for men on the Northern Beaches.
Tim founded Mongrels Men to improve men’s mental and physical health while working as national sales manager at bank ING Australia.
“For many years, all I did was focus on work,” Tim reflects. “I had mental health challenges, panic attacks, anxiety and depression. I thought that I could push through it myself without support (as) I was taught to ‘suck it up and get on with it’.”
Burying his worries into work, Tim hit rock bottom and realised he needed to do something to improve his life.
“It was after 10 years of suffering that I woke up. I got information and statistics and realised that the mental health challenge for men is much bigger than guys just pouring themselves into work,” Tim explains.
“Men tend to feel as though, especially when they’re in a family environment or a relationship, as though their role is to provide. So they bury themselves in work. But that comes at a cost of being able to develop social connections (outside of work).”
Having a chat over coffee or playing sport with ‘mates’ are some of the key elements implemented by Mongrels to create those connections that facilitate men to ‘open up’ and communicate better. The first Mongrels gold event was in 2008, and it is now an annual event.
Tim explains the importance of exercise and movement as part of the therapy.
“In 2016, I was going through a divorce and I didn’t have any support networks. One day, another guy and I ran up and down Dee Why beach. The movement and exercise made us feel better. It allowed us to have a conversation, connect with each other and talk about the things we were challenged by. And that has obviously evolved a lot since then,” Tim laughs.
In 2019, he decided to expose the Mongrels a bit more and made his first post on social media. From then, it ‘ramped up’ and Tim incorporated the charity formally.
“I wanted to test what happens if you give men opportunities to get out and connect with other blokes in their local community. Now, we run more than 300 to 350 events locally on the Northern Beaches and over 750 events across NSW and Queensland annually. It has evolved quickly from two blokes running up and down the beach into something significantly more powerful.”
Mongrels beach walk
Tim received a $20k community grant from Westfield Local Hero, 2023.
Mongrels hosts weekly meetups for men aged 30 to 70 in Manly, Dee Why and other parts of Sydney. Tim has set the goal to have a group and a Mongrel ‘champion’ in every postcode in Australia, so ‘all blokes have somewhere to go, someone to turn to and support when needed’.
“To have this group has changed my life in many ways. It makes me a better father to my three teenage children as it created the willingness to open up and have conversations with them.”
Tim has received widespread recognition for his work, receiving several awards, including the LG Electronics ‘LG Local Legend’ in 2022 and in October last year, Westfield Warringah Local Hero. Mongrels will use the 20,000 Westfield community grant for education and training.
To find out about local meet ups, or to make a donation, visit mongrelsmen.com
