Bikes for Good

Mental Health Motorbikes

Motorcycling is good for your mental health, and there's a new charity to prove it

Mental health used to be a taboo subject, but not any longer, and the last decade has seen a social revolution in how it is viewed, openly talked about and treated. One new approach, especially (though not exclusively) for men, is to find a way into the issue via shared interests, and Mental Health Motorbike (MHM), which was founded in 2020 by Paul Oxborough, is the perfect example.

With a backgound in youth and community work, and 30 years a motorcyclist, Paul was probably an ideal person to get people talking about their mental health, with biking as the essential lubricant. “The idea came out of a difficult situation,” he told MOTORCYCLE RIDER. “We lost a friend to suicide and decided we had to do something about it. Having been a motorcyclist for so long, I knew that community and thought that was a good place to start.”

Paul was sponsored to take a two-day training course in mental health first aid, a recognised qualification which has become the charity's focus, training up other people to offer a 'first responder' service for those who need help. He bought a BMW R1200GS (“an impulse buy”) and at first the idea was to just turn up on the logo'd bike at events and hand out leaflets, but that soon changed. “After more research, we realised that this had to be an open group, not just for men, which is how we've ended up with a very diverse group of people, aged from 17-70, and women as well as men. One of the things they all have in common is a love of motorcycling. It's the glue that holds us together.” In fact, diversity has turned out to be a strength. “Some men can find it difficult to open up to other men,” says Paul, “but when there are women in the group they are more likely to. It's the same with older people, who often come to us because they've had to give up their licence and have lost their motorcycle social network as a result. But having those older people in the group is really useful, because they can bring their time and experience to help the younger ones."

Training & Support

These peer support groups talk online (though there's also an increasing live presence at shows, see below) led by moderators who have taken the mental health first-aid training course. Since MHM was officially launched in March 2020, Bennetts Insurance have stepped up to help finance the training programme, and by February 2022 over 130 people had been through the course.

Anyone can apply to do the course, though Paul emphasises that this really is 'first aid'. “It doesn't qualify you as a counsellor or therapist,” he says. “The idea is to train someone who can listen to what the issues are and work out how best to support the person who has come to us for help, and which professional to put them in touch with. If there's a GP referral, someone could be waiting three months for a professional, so we have a members-only group on Facebook to help them through that period. On Sunday evenings we have a virtual ride out on zoom so that people can

come and just talk about bikes.”

Obviously people may come to the charity in a fairly desperate state, and so far over 100 people have been at the point of suicide when they approached MHM. “There have been some real emergencies,” says Paul, “and it's been a challenging time in many ways, but we've helped them all.” Not all calls are that critical, and a traffic light system is used to respond in the most appropriate way. Someone in a crisis and needing immediate one to one support gets a red light. Amber signals that they need access to the peer support group and a green light if they just need to chat, in which case an MHM volunteer will invite them to a local event. The group has about 100 'ambassadors' across the country, who act as local contacts, giving out cards and putting up posters at biker meeting places.

Support from big names like Bennetts, Thorneycroft Solicitors, Biker Down, DocBike and others has enabled MHM to have a public presence at an increasing number of shows. They were at Motorcycle Live for the whole ten days, with a generous-sized stand which needed 22 volunteers to run it over the show. “We had people coming onto the stand who needed help,” says Paul, “and they could see that we are non-judgemental and ready to listen. The other success we've had is that people we have helped have gone on to take the training and are helping others.”

As for the future, MHM has big plans for 2022. The aim is to put 1000 volunteers through the mental health first-aid course this year to radically increase the help on offer, along with a higher profile at shows, cafes and meeting places. It seems like Mental Health Motorbike is a group whose time has come.

Opposite page top: Support from DocBikes, among others, has been crucial Opposite page inset: MHM is run by riders, for riders Top left: High profile support from Charley Boorman Above: The official MHM BMw GS is seen out and about Left: Volunteers help raise the profile at shows Right: Paul Oxborough is Founding Director of Mental Health Motorbike

Case study – Simon Free

I had some mental health issues, then along the road to recovery I had a dose of realisation that I shouldn’t be living to work. After my strenuous walk with the black dog of depression I needed to find something for me. I wanted a motorbike. I needed to be reminded that life is about the journey and not the destination. I started to look at bikes on the net, read the magazines and eventually visited the bike shows and showrooms. Biking was the perfect way out, and I knew I had found what I needed all along, a positive hobby.