Leading housebuilder David Wilson Homes has donated £1,000 from its Community Fund scheme to Your Emotional Support Services (YESS), which provides a support network for adults, young people and children in Staffordshire.

Based in Uttoxeter, close to the housebuilder’s Olive Park development, YESS will use the funding from the developer to support men in the local area with their mental health, which is an opportune time ahead of Men’s Health Awareness Month throughout November.

The donation came as part of the Barratt Developments Plc Charitable Foundation, which is designed to support national and local charities, large and small, across the UK to leave a legacy in the communities in which the housebuilder operates.

YESS aims to provide support for people within the county to have access to help with mental and emotional health issues such as anxiety, anger, low self-esteem, depression, self-harm and suicidal ideation.

Julie Bird, CEO at YESS, said: “The excellent donation that we have gratefully received will go towards funding our next project. This involves looking at supporting men and their mental health.

“Society’s expectations and traditional gender roles play a role in why men are less likely to discuss or seek help for their mental health problems, and we are really looking to change this. It is extremely important that men in our local community know exactly where they can turn to for help and support regarding mental health and wellbeing.

“YESS helped break down the barrier to receiving support and make this now an understood form of support without stigma.”

The charity was founded in 2011 and now offers counselling and mental health support, training, group work and clinical supervision.

Throughout its 11 years of service, the charity has supported over 5,500 individuals, by offering around a total of 30,000 therapy sessions.

Its team of therapists are all highly skilled in differing methods and offer a range of therapies including art therapy, dance movement therapy and person-centred therapy and systemic family work.

Julie added: “Everyone has mental health and, at any given time it can change, and this can have effects on family, work, and social confidence. We are all aware of the impact of this having just gone through the pandemic and how this has affected us all.

“It has been an incredibly isolating time for many people, and we recognised that we had to shift the way we operated. YESS is extremely proud of how quickly we adapted our practice to offer online and telephone appointments, that way we could keep providing our high-quality services in an adapted way.”

Dominic Harman, Managing Director at David Wilson Homes Mercia, said: “When we heard about the admirable efforts of YESS and all it does to enhance the wellbeing of individuals in Staffordshire, we were inspired by its commitment to helping people and knew we wanted to provide support.

“We were delighted to hear the charity was focussing on men’s mental health in its upcoming project. It’s such an important consideration for us, especially with a large percentage of our site teams being male, as we understand the importance of encouraging one another to talk about their mental health.”

For more information on how to donate to the charity or to find out more about the support options available, visit the website at YESS.