COUNTY Durham project, ManHealth, is appealing for votes after reaching the finals of the National Lottery Awards - the search for the UK’s favourite ever National Lottery-funded projects.

ManHealth is competing in the best community and charity project category. The project with the most votes will be crowned the winner and receive a £10,000 cash prize, a National Lottery Awards trophy and attend a star studded glittering awards ceremony to be broadcast on BBC One in November.

ManHealth is the idea of Paul Bannister, a former teacher who was inspired to set up the scheme after struggling with depression since childhood.

He said: “The initiative was motivated by a quite selfish purpose really. I was looking for some support for myself because my life was being made a misery by the ‘Black Dog’ I found there was a chronic lack of support both professional and non-professional for men who were in crisis.”

ManHealth is a network of support groups in North-East England for men experiencing mental health issues. Facilitated by trained volunteers, the ManHealth groups are a safe space for men of all ages to talk openly about the challenges of anxiety and depression and other mental health conditions.

Dave Spensley had suffered severe depression for decades, but the failure of the engineering firm he had owned for 35 years pushed him to the brink of suicide. “I was searching for help, but felt there was no one out there,” he says. “To say finding ManHealth saved my life would be an understatement.”

Mr Spensley, 52, from Willington in County Durham said: “I came to ManHealth about eight months ago when I was referred by my GP,” says Dave who has become a ManHealth Champion which enables him to support new members at the groups. He attends two groups each week in Spennymoor and Shildon, towns in County Durham. “It was difficult at first,” he says. “I was a very angry person because everyone wants a magic wand to put themselves right. What the group did for me is give me some self-belief and the sense I wasn’t alone. That’s where my recovery journey started and it’s getting better and better. I’m still here alive and that’s something I celebrate every day.”

To vote go to lotterygoodcauses.org.uk/awards. You can also follow the campaign on Twitter: hashtag #NLAwards. Voting runs from 9am on 24 July until midnight on 21 August.