Councillor Elvis Stooke to donate over £1,000 each year to Place2Bee group at BHive Community Hub in Grantham

A district councillor will be donating over £1,000 each year over his council tenure to a local charity.

Councillor Elvis Stooke (Ind) has been “dropping in for a cuppa and a chat” at the Place2Bee Men’s Mental Health Group, run by the BHive Community Hub of the South Lincolnshire Blind Society.

Coun Stooke has also promised the group he will be donating £1,200 a year to the group over his four years as councillor.

Susan Swinburn, CEO of the blind society, said: “We are tremendously grateful to Councillor Stooke for the recognition that he has given our group and for his acknowledgement of the need to support men with their mental health.

“He really does understand the pressures that men are facing with often being the only breadwinner in a family, raising interest rates, family pressures of feeding families, keeping a job and caring for other family members too.

“He is passionate about helping our community and in this case helping us to keep preventing male suicide where we can.

“The men at the group are really grateful to Councillor Stooke for taking an interest in them as people and for his time listening to their concerns.

“They said it’s really refreshing that local councillors are connected to the core issues for some of our more vulnerable members in the community and don’t shy away from the tough issues in life.”

The Place2Bee group is run by volunteers who are all qualified mental health first aiders.

The group runs from Monday to Thursday evenings from 6pm until 9pm. Men are able to go there and talk to someone about any issues they may have.