“The day is about letting males know about issues that effect them like the high suicide rate, alcoholism, homophobia and family breakdown,” Bega’s Tom Hausfeld said from Littleton Gardens where he took time to talk to males of all ages about opening up and expressing their vulnerabilities.

The day was first observed by the citizens of Trinidad and Tobago in 1999 where it was conceived by Dr Jerome Teelucksingh from The University of the West Indies at the Families in Action headquarters in Port of Spain and has was first observed in Australia in 2003.

Dr Teelucksingh saw the importance of celebrating good male role models in society and Mr Hausfeld echoed his sentiments, pointing at the staggering rate of domestic violence deaths in Australia during 2015 at the hands of males.

“It’s about being positive role models for men and boys and promoting greater gender equality,” he said.

“The most important thing is that men know that support exists for them and if it saves a bloke from hurting himself or someone else then it’s a great thing.”

Mr Hausfeld said his participation in men’s groups had helped him through his hardest times and that he would be starting a “men’s gathering” to help support males of all ages in need every Monday night in Bega from 7.30pm.

Mr Hausfield can be contacted on 0407468476 for more information.