WHAT IS THE MACCAS PROJECT?
Tom or Maccas as he was widely known was a typical young man. He came from a loving and supportive family and was popular amongst his friends who would describe him as a brilliant, quiet genius. In 2011 Tom was diagnosed with psychosis and had been struggling to come to terms with this, finding escape in music and creative arts, but everyday was a battle.
In August 2012, aged 19, Tom Committed suicide.
In light of this sudden heartbreak Tom’s family and friends began fundraising for North Staffs Younger Mind in the hope that tragedies like this could be prevented in the future. The Maccas Project officially launched in Stoke-on-Trent and across North Staffordshire on 5th December 2013.
M - male
A - adolescents
C - celebrating
C - confidence
A -and
S - self esteem
mission statement
The Maccas Project is specifically aimed at supporting young men’s mental health in the North Staffs area. It is the only local project currently in existence focusing solely on our young males (14-25 years of age) mental health.
The acronym MACCAS was derived in the very early meetings with Toms family and is the foundation of our project.
we are part of north staffs mind...
The Maccas Project is a part of North Staffs Mind, a registered charity (No. 700788) and we rely totally on fundraising and donations in order to keep the project running.
We ally ourselves with specialist suicide prevention agencies, like Papyrus and Sane, and like them it is our firm belief that with successful engagement, support and advice we can make the difference to reduce the staggering increase in the rose of young people dying by suicide.
increasing thoughts of suicide
1 in 4 people in the UK will experience a mental health problem each year yet most young people aged between 12-18 years old don’t even know where to get help or access support.
200,000 is the number of episodes of self-harm that present to hospital services each year. However, many people who self-harm do not seek help from health or other services and so are not recorded.
stigma stops people seeking help
Young people prefer to ‘suffer in silence’ because they are scared of stigma, or feel that they would be treated badly if they told someone about their problems.
43% of young people said that fear of stigma had stopped them seeking help.
1 in 10 self harm 1 in 10 who self harm go onto commit suicide.
If you know anyone ages between 14-25 years of age who you feel may need support then please get in touch:
NORTH STAFFS YOUNGER MIND
83 Marsh Street,
Hanley,Stoke-on-Trent,
Staffordshire.
Telephone: 01782 262100
or visit our website for more information on how to help: