2026
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What Does Checking-in Actually Mean?
Checking-in on someone means contacting them directly when you notice they’re not themselves, usually with a phone call or a message that asks a real question. You don’t need training or the right words. Most of the time it takes five minutes and the patience to listen to the answer. We talk a lot about…
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Why Nobody Uses Punctuation on Facebook Anymore
Apparently punctuation is optional now. I know this because I help run a local Facebook community group with around 12,000 members, which means I get a front row seat to watching the English language get quietly murdered, one status update at a time. Some posts are clear but some appear to have been typed during…
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British Milk Down the Drain While Palm Oil Comes In
British dairy farmers are dumping surplus milk during peak production while UK food manufacturers import palm oil to replace dairy fat in their recipes. Palm oil wins out because it’s cheaper and more shelf-stable than butterfat, but the rainforest and peatland clearance behind it does far more damage than the swap suggests, sterilising entire ecosystems,…
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I Deleted a Facebook Post About Statistics
Today I deleted a Facebook post about UK rape statistics after a straightforward share turned into an argument about grooming gangs, race and immigration within minutes – which was not my intention. The graphic itself didn’t mention ethnicity or immigration status, but a comment dragged the conversation there anyway, and once the source of a…
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“Talk to Someone” Only Works If Somebody Listens
We keep telling people to talk. Talk to somebody. Reach out. Check in with your mates. It’s okay not to be okay. We’ve been saying variations of the same thing for years. And I keep wondering whether we’ve concentrated so much on telling struggling people to speak that we’ve forgotten the rather important second half…
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When Did Normal Politics Become Far Right?
The term “far right” is increasingly used to describe political positions that were considered ordinary, and held by people across the political spectrum, until relatively recently. Its overuse has blurred the line between normal democratic disagreement and genuine extremism, making the label less precise, less credible and less useful. When did it become far right…
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When Government Decides What We Should Hear
The UK government is currently consulting on plans, set out in the Watch This Space green paper, media literacy strategy and a linked evidence review, that would give “trusted” and public service sources greater prominence on platforms and search results. Backers call it protecting people from misinformation. Critics call it a quiet way to shape which voices…
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Political Commentary Is Now a Subscription Business
Political commentary increasingly runs on the same mechanics as a content farm: a provocative social post drives clicks to a paid platform, and the strength of the argument matters less than whether it converts. Matt Goodwin’s Facebook post about the murders of Jo Cox and Ann Widdecombe raises a fair question about double standards on…
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When A Broken Man Walks Through The Door
Some men walk into Andy’s Man Club quietly. Some after walking or driving passed a few times. Some hover near the door; unsure – anxious. Some sit down, fold their arms, and spend the first hour working out whether they’ve made a terrible mistake. And then some men walk in already broken. I don’t mean…
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One Simple Idea – 10 Years of Andy’s Man Club
Ten years ago today, one man sat in a coffee shop with an idea. A week after asking for the blessing from the heartbroken mother of a young man who’d lost her son to suicide. he didn’t have a business plan. It wasn’t a national charity with hundreds of venues across the UK. Just an…