Hello and welcome to The Purpose Brief. This
episode is our long -awaited conversation with
Matty Lewis who's a social entrepreneur and change
maker working across York and North Yorkshire.
We explore three things, men's mental health
and mindfulness, his work on delivering corporate
social responsibility and what it takes to build
a career in the social good space. The context
of this really matters. Men's mental health remains
one of the most under -addressed challenges that
we face. And in the UK alone, around three quarters
of suicides are amongst men. And globally, there
are 700 ,000 people who die each year from suicide.
So this is not a marginal issue. It's a public
health priority. I'll be really honest with you.
This is deeply personal to me. I lost a friend
in his mid -twenties and decades on, the thought
of this stays with me. At the time, we didn't
talk about mental health 25 years ago. And that's
why work like Matty's and all the associated
charities in that space really makes a difference.
And it creates a space for conversation, for
reflection and for support. Many men are still
less likely to seek help. shaped by expectations
around resilience and self -reliance and masculinity.
So the idea of mindfulness and safe spaces is
not a luxury. It is necessary. And perhaps the
simplest takeaway for me is just be kind. You
rarely know what someone else is carrying with
them. So Matty brings a perspective grounded
in lived experience. He's working directly with
people. He's building trust and he's responding
to gaps in the system. It's been a real privilege
to get to know him over the past 18 months. This
is a clear example to me of what purposeful place
-based leadership looks like. Matty, welcome
to our next episode of The Purpose Brief. Thank
you for joining us today. It's a pleasure. Let's
talk first and foremost about your purpose and
the work that you do. I feel my purpose is...
is to help people as cliched or cheesy as that
sounds that's that's how i feel surrounded by
great people that help me to do that but i feel
like my purpose is to help people i think about
I have four roles in life. You know, one of them,
I have a son, I am a father, you know, and I'm
very fortunate for that. But the three kind of
hats that I wear on a day -to -day basis are
with the Fortis Foundation, so head of foundation,
and we give away grants to small charities and
community groups. We're helping people. In my
spare time, me and four mates run a men's mental
health charity called Menfulness. reducing suicide
amongst men where we're helping people. And another
voluntary role with the York Knights, looking
after the lads' play welfare. So just encouraging
the players to speak about challenges on and
off the field. And there I'm helping people as
well. So it never feels like a burden to do that.
It's very rewarding. It's empowering as well.
But yeah, that's my purpose, helping people.
And how did you get into that line of work? Is
that just because you... created this serendipitous
kind of engagement with people because of the
work you do and you're you're somebody who likes
to go and fix things yeah tell me a little bit
about that yeah i mean part of it might be because
i i'm a yes kind of a guy if someone says this
isn't great and i'd love us to fix it i'll say
yes and worry about whether we can or not later
on and but i suppose that all the roles have
happened quite organically i think The first,
you know, I spent eight years on frontline policing
and then I went into what I would call a normal
job. I was a commercial manager up at the York
Knights Rugby Club, actually. And over that period
of time, from about 2018 onwards, that's when...
myself and my four mates started Menfulness and
my inspiration for involvement was that I'd lost
a friend to suicide he'd just become a new dad
and and whether that had an impact or not Yorkie
Dads was kind of there for that reason for new
and existing dads to get together and give kind
of like -minded support and influence and and
create an environment where New dads, existing
dads would feel safe to say they're struggling
and we started breaking the stigma there and
then we created Menfulness, which was the umbrella
over the top of Yorkie Dads to help every man
that we could and reduce that stigma and reduce
suicide in men. The experience of building Menfulness
from what was a very, very small, it wasn't even
a community group, it was just five mates trying
to do a bit of good in the world, all the way
through community group, registered charity status
and to today where we're helping thousands of
men every single week. So then be asked to use
that experience to start, strategise and run
the Fortas Foundation and take away those barriers
and hurdles that I'd felt as an unskilled volunteer
in the early days with Menfulness. Now that's
very, very full circle and we give grants to
these little guys, the small charities and community
groups all across Yorkshire. How did I get involved
in it? Well, it started as something very, very
small from a personal experience and quite a
sad event in losing a friend. But a lot of the
time that is the case with people that work in
the charity sector is that it starts with something
that actually isn't great and it inspires them
and motivates them to make sure that that doesn't
happen again. And that certainly was the case
with me. And credit to you and the founders for
going through that route and setting up a charity
is not easy to do. Can you say a little bit about
why North Yorkshire and York, why this is a big
thing for this region of the country? And we
know that suicide in men is one of the biggest
killers in men under the age of 50. So what has
inspired you and how has that grown in this region
in particular? Yeah. Why Minton? I don't know
that we really knew. the kind of beast within
yorkshire that when we first started out i think
when we first started out it was just we all
lived in york and let's do something on our doorstep
that helps fellas out and we all had our own
networks that we could go you know let's come
along to this and see what it's all about and
it was and that was the easiest and most organic
way to do it i think what we found is that now
The foundation supports charities and community
groups all across Yorkshire, but from a mindfulness
point of view, we've just grown out to Scarborough.
We've demonstrated a hell of a lot of impact,
and you can kind of firmly say that we are saving
lives on a daily basis, and we can demonstrate
that through academic research that's been done
by York St John's University. We've grown out
to Scarborough because the need is in Scarborough,
and however much we sit there and thought...
Well, we're never going to grow. Mental illness
is never going to grow. It's just going to be
a York -based thing. What we've found is that
coastal towns statistically struggle with suicide
and mental health. Huge geographical influence
on that. And what I mean by that is if you drop
a pin in the middle of York and draw a 10 -mile
radius... Think about the amount of support you
get there. If you drop a pin in the middle of
Scarborough, a 10 mile radius, well, half of
that's the sea. So there isn't a lot of support
there. So geographically, it lends itself to,
it's always going to struggle. When you kind
of look at York and North Yorkshire as a whole,
mental health wise, and you think about the industries
that statistically are struggling, you firstly
got the fact there's a coastal town or Scarborough
is an example of a coastal town. You've then
got... Agriculture, which statistically suicide
rates are horrendous in, and the construction
industry, which can be said for anywhere in the
UK, obviously. But when you've got all three
of those demographics in York and North Yorkshire,
there's a clear need, and we're here to do it.
And how much we never dreamt that we would kind
of grow out outside York, if we stop what we're
doing now, it will be to the detriment of many
in our area. And Menfulness has been down to
Downing Street and it's been supported by the
York Regional Mayor. That's a really good endorsement
for you. Is that going to open up more opportunities
to grow? I mean, this is something that's not
going to change in terms of service that has
to be provided. Yeah, well, I think when you
look at statutory services that are out there,
they're just stretched. And every decision at
the moment is finance related. So I think what
we've delivered is five fellows doing some good
in the world. This isn't our job. You know, we're
not doing it to hit a KPI or because we're paid
to do it. We do it because we care. We genuinely
care about the blokes that we support. And because
we've kind of learned. Along the way, we were
talking about becoming a registered charity even.
Four of the five of us would have no idea how
to look at kind of charity regulation and design
policies and structure. But one of us is really
good at that. So all the way through lockdown,
when we were going through that process, one
of the trustees, Sam, is brilliant with stuff
like that and has the patience for it. And he
used to drop in, they were called Sam's Nuggets,
and he used to drop in two or three. points of
process and things that we had to read understand
and acknowledge and then we kind of move on so
when we talk about learning things kind of step
by step that that's what we've done you know
we're not sitting here as professionals today
saying we're brilliant at running a charity but
what we are saying is that while we have learned
and we have upskilled and we've got experience
we're delivering through passion and i think
when you look at what the mayor David Scaife
is trying to deliver across York and North Yorkshire,
it's with people at the heart of everything.
I think the most highly trained individual will
do a great job, but I think if you've got people
who've got lived experience and passion and care
in their hearts, I think they're always going
to deliver something that's super impactful and
on a level that's pretty tangible as well. What
are the things that inspire you most about the
work that you do with mindfulness? You know,
someone asked me recently... You run a charity
foundation as your day job, and it's not just
a day job, but you've then got menfulness, which
you run in your spare time, which is significant.
You then look after the night's lads with player
welfare, and that's a 24 -7 job. You've got a
son, you've got your own life. How do you recharge
your batteries, or what recharges your batteries?
And the answer was relatively simple to me, and
that is... when you receive some form of feedback
that says you're making a difference. So for
me, there are things that I remember. I remember
in quite early days, I think we were maybe a
year into the Menfulness as a registered charity,
and we received an email from a mum of a fellow
that we'd supported through the process who had
reached out, come to our events and activities,
accessed the counselling. become a volunteer.
And he was empowered by being a volunteer and
was suddenly, you know, he's back. He's in a
much better place. And his mum just sent this
email saying how she'd kind of accepted she was
going to lose him at some point. And the sign
off to this email was, thank you for giving me
my son back. Now, for us, we used to laugh and
say, we're just five. We're just five guys trying
to do a bit of good in the world and we're not
experts. But you kind of look at that and you
think, oh my God, that's our motivation. That's
why we do what we do. And it makes you hungry
for more. And there's a sad reality that every
now and again, and thankfully with a lot less
frequency as there was in York. But every now
and again you hear about another suicide in York
and we think, oh, my God, how have we not reached
that person or how have they not reached out
to us or what more can we do? And, again, that
motivates us as well. So, yeah, we receive a
lot of feedback. There's guys that say quite
openly in the talk group, they say, you know,
I wouldn't be here without this event once a
month. I know I wouldn't be here. I've made friends.
loneliness and isolation piece that that so many
actually do struggle with quite quietly you know
we're we're getting rid of that as well because
we've got such a supportive loving network of
thousands of men in one city that are all looking
out for each other whether they're complete strangers
or know each other really well and i think driving
that culture even in that group of men that's
a diverse group of audiences really with different
needs and different likes yeah you're doing everything
from interventions for younger people work with
dads and their children yeah and arts groups
all those as well as sport and yeah boxing and
things like that yeah so the the idea being is
that if we just had a retro gaming night which
is a multitude of old kind of games consoles
and all games and your mario cats and stuff like
that you're not going to get someone who is sport
upset you might but you're not going to get someone
who's sport obsessed who's going to sit down
with his consoles may not know what he's doing
but that's the diversionary activity there's
not going to be much common ground between him
and the bloke sat next to him so the idea is
while we have the dad's daughter's hair school
this isn't about a dad learning to plait his
daughter's hair although you get that skill while
you're doing it You can talk to a like -minded
fellow right next to you and you might be able
to validate how he's feeling or he can validate
how you're feeling. And you might be going through
a certain struggle or a certain point in your
journey that they've been through that. This
is what worked for me. Why don't you try this?
And it's immediate support if you're not in a
great place from a like -minded fellow. So all
we're doing is creating an environment where,
you know, we're reaching out to very specific.
demographics and very specific interests but
then we're broadening the kind of we always used
to be 18 plus so if you're a man age 18 or above
then come along to these events now we've started
something called next gen menfulness and that
is essentially working with another charity called
next all but one they use the arts as a diversion
activity so really harnessing talent within so
on giving them belief and confidence for teenagers
now we're working alongside them to deliver a
program of support that is co -designed by the
teenagers themselves so being able to sit in
front of a teenager and say why is life tough
as a teenager right now And the answers can be
things, anything from kind of, ah, well, social
media you can see on so -and -so's platform.
This is where they are. They've clearly got loads
of money and they're saving a deposit for their
house and they drive this car and they've got
this watch on. And I'm not there. And why aren't
I there? Am I a failure? So you get those kind
of comments and they're the pressures as a teenager
on top of... Pressures that I remember as a teenager
a long time ago, which was around kind of dating
and relationships and identity around careers.
Well, what am I passionate about? What do I want
to do for a career? And we're dialing into that
through Next Gen Menfulness now. So really like
co -designing survival guides with teenagers.
So we know that actually they're the things that
matter to them. They're the things that are going
to resonate with them. And then using the arts
to kind of harness those. those negative behaviors
and turn things into a positive so we it's something
that we've just started and yesterday we were
down at number 10 you know talking some very
influential individuals and the mayor was down
there and the local mp luke was down there and
and you're having these conversations and suddenly
you find that actually although we're not highly
trained professionals they are coming to us for
guidance and support on how to have a broader
impact as a local government and so anybody in
york can utilize your services and access it
straight within a few days, essentially, which
is quite groundbreaking for this kind of thing.
It is. Yeah, and there's no membership. There's
no fee. There's no sign -up. We don't need personal
details. It is as simple as turn up. Some of
the events, like the Fireside Football, we use
the Meetup application or webpage, and that enables
us to list all our events and activities. It's
a go -to place that's accessible via our website.
Although for the Fireside Football, we have to
get someone to sign on to say they're attending
because there's a limit to how many. We have
three sessions a week and they're always fully
booked, so we have to do that. But we don't need
people's personal details in order for them to
come along to the walk and talk or the breakfast
club or X, Y, and Z. And it's really important
that we do that because what we're trying to
do is take away any barriers to any bloke accessing
support. So when you look at the counselling,
so the private counselling, we got to a point
where there were guys going to the GP asking
for help. The GP was saying, well, there's a
year -long waiting list there. But in the meantime,
check these guys out. And then we didn't want
to be signposting them back if they were really
struggling. So what we did was set up a partnership
with Serendipity Counselling where we can have
a bloke sat in front of a counsellor within 48
hours of referral and pay for a full block of
six sessions. So there's no barriers between
a bloke who's really struggling and accessing
the support he needs, whether that's through
our proactive events activities or accessing
the counselling directly. And these are professional...
private counselors and we hear so many success
stories from that as well so hopefully all encompassing
support that's really great it's really great
to see it's a great role model for services across
the country do you see that growing and presumably
this need is not going to go away Yeah, we don't
think the need is going to go away. I think when
you kind of turn the clock back and you look
at the stigma and men's mental health, and it
probably feels like it's just getting worse and
worse and worse and louder and louder and louder.
I actually think it's just as bad as it was 20
years ago. But because it's being spoken about,
it probably feels louder. Now, don't get me wrong.
In some respects, it's a more... challenging
world and you think of examples around inheritance
tax in agriculture in the farming industry and
stuff like that there's there's certain financial
decisions made and the country is struggling
and and of course that has a negative impact
on people but i still don't think it's spiraling
out of control i think because we're speaking
about it more but surely that means that we're
breaking the stigma you know the stigma behind
mental health because it's been spoken about
and guys are reaching out for support and For
us, we look at kind of suicide rates is a measure.
Part of the academic research meant that we could
see that over that previous 12 months, suicide
rates at the start of the research and suicide
rates at the end of the research. And at the
start of the research, every talent in the UK
going up. At the end of the research, every talent
in the UK going up, except York, which was decreasing.
Not only decreasing, but the rate had decreased
by 10%. So that's not insignificant. Now, we're
not going to take full credit for that. We're
certainly not. The NHS is still doing their job.
There are other amazing charities and community
groups doing their jobs. The stigma is being
broken. We've got loads of partners that shout
about mental health and men talking and stuff
like that. We're doing our job in York. We've
expanded out to Scarborough. We're trying to
do the job out there. I think that... It's working.
I think our model does work. We never dreamt
that we would need to expand or grow out somewhere.
But if someone tells us, apply for this part
of funding, you'll get it, and we need you out
there, we're never going to say no. And the thought
that we would stop doing what we're doing now,
it would have a detrimental effect on thousands
of men across York and North Yorkshire, and so
we're not going to stop. What should people who
are listening look out for? In terms of the signs
and the responses, if somebody's got a relative
or their partner, what are the kind of things
that we should be looking at? There's obvious
ones that people would know around someone becoming
more and more secluded and shutting themselves
in the bedroom at night or not going out and
socialising. But there's less obvious ones. Essentially
what I tell people is any change in behaviour.
So if it's a colleague in the workplace, are
they turning up late consistently? Are they turning
up early consistently? If they turn up early,
what's going on at home for them to want to be
at work earlier? Is it a body language thing?
Is it physical health? Are they quieter? Are
they louder? You know, it's not always what you
would class as kind of stereotypical or they
must be struggling because they are putting on
weight. They look tired. They're not talking
as much. They're not socializing. It can be the
complete opposite. They could be spending loads
of time in the gym. They could be in the best
physical shape of their life, but why are they
spending most of their life in the gym? They're
isolating themselves. Why are they doing that?
Essentially, it's any change in behavior is worth
asking the question. And I know there's a lot
of fear and apprehension around asking the question.
It's understandable because the answer could
be quite scary, but you don't need to be a professional
to ask the question. Essentially, you need to
have a pair of ears. And yeah, you have to grit
your teeth to say, are you all right? generally
you're going to get a, yeah, I'm fine, mate,
how are you? That's the go -to answer, isn't
it? But then to go for that second time and say,
are you sure you're all right? Because I've noticed
that you're turning up to work really early and
I'm just checking everything's all right at home.
Sometimes you're going to hear an answer you
don't want to hear. well yeah actually i'm really
struggling well then what do you do well you
just be a good mate and listen let him talk get
off your chest tell me about it you know tell
me about tell me about that why are you feeling
how you're feeling talking about making time
for for those people yeah those kind of conversations
should never be rushed you know essentially you
you you have to be in a good environment this
isn't while you while you kind of walking out
of the office this is a i want to grab you for
half an hour today and you know one of the fears
around having that conversation is that someone
might be pissed off at you they might be like
really annoyed at you and go what do you mean
what do you mean i'm struggling what do you mean
i've turned up to work here what do you mean
i'm putting on weight like they could be offended
by that but the reality off the back of that
is how long can someone stay in order another
person when they've just shown kindness and yet
you know you're never going to rule out the fact
that someone might be a bit annoyed at you for
asking that question but generally speaking they're
going to come around and i think you know what
mate thank you very much for looking out for
me there so it's checking in on your mates yeah
and your friends it's that community connection
as well which is part of the the offer for mindfulness
yeah but more broadly i think how we engage as
communities is important The thing I find most
interesting about that is that it's almost like
this opinion that if somebody has a platform,
then they can't struggle. So, for example, Sonto
plays for the York Knights. He's a player of
the season, top point scorer. I mean, look at
him go. He's living the rugby league dream. He
can never struggle, can he? When the reality
is that, generally speaking, if someone's got
a platform... So let's use a rugby league player
as an example. They have concerns around a career
after rugby, because let's be honest, there's
not much money in rugby, so you're going to need
to continue working after retirement. A sense
of purpose and direction, if that's the case.
Injury, both through the season or career -ending
injuries. Contracts, selection. There's all these
challenges and concerns and worries that the
players can face. on top of challenges that you
or I could face around relationships, physical
health, jobs, careers, all the regular challenges
that we can, if I can use the phrase, regular
challenges that you and I can face, they've got
all those other challenges on top of that as
well. Pressure. Yeah, it's added pressure. And
what we can't do here is sit here and put people
on pedestals and think, well, they can't struggle
because... and that's the that's the beauty around
a lot of the mindfulness events is that you've
got such a vast range of people in the room so
the talk group's a great example of that okay
you can have a multi -million multi -millionaire
sat next to someone that's borderline going to
be homeless but they're showing so much love
and care to each other and this common ground
because they're both human beings and i think
that actually culturally i think if we all had
a better mindset on that and actually we're just
looking out for each other instead of looking
in which is what we so often do and we can all
be guilty of it and the world would be a better
place how does positive mindfulness show up in
high performing teams such as rugby players and
other athletes well there's science behind it
but i think if you if you apply a sports person
into regular life. So I'm going to use an example
of me as a dad, right? I've got a son, he's nine
years old. And if I'm not looking after myself
physically and mentally, I'm never going to be
the best version of me for him. So I'm never
going to be the best dad. Now, our mindfulness
CEO, Jack Woodhams, always uses the example of
when he accessed counselling. So he speaks very
openly, amazingly about his daughter's health
issues and the fact that She has really severe
seizures that need medicating there and then.
So what Jack, his outputs used to be that she
would have a seizure, they'd medicate her, she'd
come round, and then he'd spend the rest of the
day feeling angry at the world, like anger would
be his output. Throughout that is not being the
best version of himself. You know, you can't
see clearly. It sits heavy on you for the rest
of the day. You're not being the best dad, husband,
friend in the meantime. Whereas after he accessed
counselling, the outputs, he was trained for
his outputs to be different. So actually what
happens now is... medicates his daughter after
a seizure and his output is sadness he's showing
his emotions there's nothing wrong with that
that is a great example to set to his to his
kids and to his wife so for 10 minutes it's arms
around and hugs and he's crying and everyone
and but they come together and then it's like
right come on let's let's make the best of the
rest of the day and let's attack it he's been
the best version of himself then so i think when
you talk about high performing athletes And you
talk about them being the best finishers on the
field. That has to start off the field. If they
are within a team with an absolutely shocking
culture and they don't feel safe when they're
there and they're getting the mick taken out
of them and they're coming in and they've just
got their head down all the time and they don't
have many friends or there's little cliques in
the team or anything like that. They're not going
to be the best version of themselves on the grass
are they? So actually when they are away from
rugby and home life is good and they're healthy
and they've got a positive outlook, they are
going to be the best version of them on the field
as well. So in a way, through elite athletes
and their conditioning and their well -being,
mindfulness, there's something that we can all...
Learn a lesson there about how we live our lives.
Is there something about positive masculinity
in that sense, sort of the opposite of what everyone
drags up around, you know, these kind of stereotypes
around, particularly for young men? Yeah. Yeah,
well, I think at the end of last season, the
York Knights captain, Liam Harris, he had...
an incredible season. He kicked the winning drop
goal at Wembley in golden play extra time to
win the trophy. And he captained the side all
the way into the Super League. He got player
of the season awards and top point score awards
and a season of his life. And what he did at
the end of his kind of speech at the very end
of the awards night in front of younger players,
current teammates, sponsors, families, fans,
you know, media. What he said there was far more
impactful than any kind of marketing campaign
for mindfulness would achieve. And that is, he
said, there's a reason why I've been able to
perform the way I've been able to this year.
And I can speak on behalf of lads and say the
same. And that is with the support of Matty Lewis.
Now that is not me flexing. It's nice, of course,
to get positive feedback. Incredible. And it
will stick with me for the rest of my life. But
the broader impact of that comment is that what
he's essentially said to every single person
in that room, hundreds of people in that room
is, it's all right to reach out and ask for help
if you need it. So you talk about that kind of
positive masculinity, that's positive masculinity
right there. It takes a real man to say, I'm
struggling. It takes a real man to reach out
for support. It's good leadership. Oh, 100%.
Makes a big difference across a team. Of course,
yeah. Because then they know they could go with
their skipper and ask for some support and advice
and go, I just need to tell you that I've got
this going on. And then it's not just about sport,
is it? And that's very special. Tell us more
about Fortas Foundation and the backstory to
that. And you're doing some really impressive
work with communities across Yorkshire. But talk
about... how that came around and your role there?
Again, I mean, I think I've used the word organically
on far too many occasions so far, but I think
it did come around very, very organically. And
I was working for the commercial team up at the
York Knights while running Menfulness in my spare
time. And the senior leadership team at Fortis,
Fortis were a sponsor of the Knights, so I got
to know them and built a relationship with them.
And they'd offered a load of support for Menfulness
and said, you know, if you ever need anything
from us, we're here. We think what you're doing
is great. So I knew they were good folk. And
then Craig Herbert, the Fortis CEO, picked up
the phone one day and said, I want you to swing
by the office. We want to talk charity. I thought
it'll be mindfulness -related, so I swung by.
And he said, Matty, I've got this amazing business,
a very successful business, and that's all well
and good, but I don't feel like we've done any
good in the world. Some humility in that statement,
isn't there? And he said, I want you to use your
experience. with the growth of Menfulness, taking
it from a very small community group as an unskilled
volunteer to the trustee of a very successful
registered charity. Use that experience. I want
you to strategize the foundation and create something
that removes all the barriers and hurdles that
you felt along the way. And there was something
very special in being given the autonomy to do
that. And I think it shows how good a leader
he was to say, I don't know what I'm doing with
this. I know I want us to do it because we want
to do some good in the world. Over to you. And
that's something that not many leaders do. And
so we strategized the foundation in a way that
I thought, actually, let's turn the clock back.
What were my biggest challenges as a trustee
of mindfulness? What were our biggest challenges?
Really, that was around funding being available
for the little guys, as I describe them. So these
small charities and small community groups. So
straight away, it was making grants available
for charities and community groups all across
Yorkshire. These grants are between £500 and
£10 ,000. and small charities and community groups
defined by under an annual financial turnover
of £100 ,000. So the little guys, the guys that
make the least noise, but still have just as
big an impact as the bigger national charities.
So I wanted to make them available, but then
kind of diving into it deeper, the main barriers
and challenges that I felt as an unskilled volunteer
was sitting there at nine o 'clock at night,
opening my laptop. I've put my lad to bed to
do a grant application and seeing page one of
32 and thinking, oh, my Lord. And then going
back to it three nights in a row to get it done.
And it could be for quite a nominal fee, like
£500. That has a very little impact on your operation,
but you've got to go for it, haven't you? There's
very little out there. And then if you're successful
enough to receive that grant. You've then got
the impact reporting that comes off the back
of it. And the impact reporting, traditionally,
very data -heavy documents, tells the postcodes
and the demographics and the number of people
here and the number of this there. Important,
impact reporting is very, very important. You
want to know that the money has gone to the cause
and the impact that that cause has had. At the
foundation, we've gone very, very against the
grain, and that is us taking the impact reporting
on behalf of the recipient. So we invest in a
videographer, and we tell the story of each one
of these projects we've funded through a video
in a series called The Power of One. So we'll
do an episode about a specific project. So as
an example, Coastline Sight and Hearing, a very
small charity out in Scarborough supporting adults
who are blind or partially sighted, and we funded
a year's worth of... dance sessions essentially
something they never thought they'd be able to
do and they did that these sessions every other
week we go out with a videographer we get some
b -roll of the session itself we interview the
service users and they tell us how special it
is to them the positive impact it's had to them
and then we use that video as an asset to shout
about the work that we've done the work that
that charity do so it's free marketing for them
so it's far more than just a grant but we also
use that as an asset to give to our funders as
well So yeah, all encompassing support. It's
a really, I've said it before, but it's a really
innovative way of delivering corporate social
responsibility. And we know that there's not
enough businesses doing that heavy lifting for
small voices in voluntary and charity sector.
So we take our hat off to you for that. Thank
you. And for Fortis and for Craig for having
that kind of foresight. But it's also about encouraging
other partners to come in on board. Do you want
to say about Go Give One? Yeah, so it's essentially
where the funding comes from. And I suppose that's
the other part of the strategy, isn't it? Is
that we sat and thought, well, okay, how are
we going to fund these projects? Where's the
money going to come from these grants? For these
grants, I should say. And I put a survey out
to my network of business owners and decision
makers and said, stops you from engaging with
charities and the reasons where everything from
does it affect productivity and efficiency of
the business just do we have to take someone
out of the business for 10 hours a month to work
with and communicate and liaise with and set
up fundraisers and all that kind of stuff they
get asked by so many charities for support they
can't say yes to everyone so they say no to everyone
do they feel connected with the charity they're
supporting so do they do the three peaks with
all their employees and raise three grand for
a national charity and make the donation and
that's great they get the csr and the publicity
off the back of that but then where does the
money truly go and a couple of weeks later it's
done and dusted you know and so where's the longevity
and the connection in that so kind of went away
and thought about a campaign and what we Ask
is for a financial commitment. Obviously, that's
where the funding comes from, through a campaign
called Go Give One. And that's asking a business
to give 1 % of the profits into the foundation.
And then, as I say, we go off and do all the
legwork. So we support a vast range of charities
all across Yorkshire, all different kinds of
charities and community groups. We're doing all
that administrative burden. It doesn't affect
the productivity of the business. We're doing
it all. But then the CSR side of things and the
connection side of things. They're feeling connected
because those impact reporting videos are given
to them as an asset. So they're going, there
you go. Go shout about what you've contributed
to. Use that video on your own social media,
on your own LinkedIn, on your website, however
you want to do it. Go shout about that because
you've contributed towards it. And there are
some 1 %ers who do it for the CSR because they
know that that ticks a box. They know they're
good folk. They're doing some good in the world
and they want to shout about it. And that's fine.
There's also 1 % that aren't bothered about that.
They don't use those videos. They don't use them.
But they sleep better at night because they know
they're supporting so many different kinds of
projects all around Yorkshire as well. So if
it's a business that's got an office in Leeds,
York and Scarborough, they don't have to worry
about selecting a charity that's on the doorstep
because we're supporting charities and community
groups everywhere all around Yorkshire. So it
feels like we're really taking away all those
kind of concerns and barriers and it's easy and
it's enjoyable. And the amazing thing is that
for us themselves, commit 1 % of their profit
and 1 % of their turnover into the foundation.
And that means that they're covering all the
running costs of the foundation plus putting
money in the pot. And I think there's a real
nice transparency piece around that for me to
be able to say that any penny that goes in for
our 1 % as our fundraisers is going directly
to these causes. Then everybody knows where the
money's going and the impact reporting shows
them where it's going as well. Do you have a
favourite impacts story that... You're happy
to share? Yeah, do you know what? It was probably
the most recent one. I think it was the most
rewarding, enjoyable moment or wow moment for
me in the last couple of years because we only
launched sort of 18 months ago. The project was
for a charity called Sensors out in Scarborough
and it's for children who are mute or have speech
impediments and often that comes with physical
disabilities as well. We kind of received the
grant application. We looked at it and go, do
you know what? We're funding a year's worth of
music therapy sessions for these kids. And there
was science behind why that's beneficial to these
children and for their own development. But I
didn't really realize the scope and the true
impact that that would have on these kids until
we went to film. the impact reporting video.
And the first 30 minutes of these sessions, it
was kind of open play and there was this kind
of beautiful little two -year -old girl and she
never said a word. She didn't make a single noise,
but every time she made eye contact with anyone,
she had this beaming smile on her face. There
was this girl who was a bit older and she just
wanted to kind of run right around the room.
So much energy in there. But again, I wasn't
communicating with anyone. There was a little
boy with severe physical disabilities with involuntary
body movements. So you look around the room and
they're all very complex, very complex needs.
And the mums are all there with them. And then
the music therapist comes in and she sits down
and she starts playing this song on this guitar
that... She'd obviously played in previous sessions.
And every single one of these children just sat
locked in, fully engaged. The little girl who'd
never made a sound was singing along. Not the
words, but the noises she was singing along.
The little boy with the involuntary body movements,
there was very little involuntary movements.
He was dialed in. The girl that was running right
around the room, she was sat and she was engaged.
and it gave me goosebumps and it made me very
very emotional because for that hour or so the
parents that were in the room were able to just
kind of sit back and enjoy their child being
a child you know without all those negative feelings
around like why is why is why my child you know
why I want to give them the best quality of life
and I want them to be, I don't want them to be
the odd one out. And they weren't. Like all those
children were just there together enjoying it.
And actually the grant application on paper told
its story and obviously we said yes and we funded
it. But then to go and see it in person was just,
yeah, amazing. Do you think impact is bigger
than just the metrics that we, or the videos
that we produce? I mean, these stories that...
We're both familiar with them about impact, but
it's the longitudinal impact, isn't it? Yeah,
yeah. And I'll use an example. The first project
we ever funded was installing a defib at a children's
respite care centre. And on the tin, it was,
that's great. Hopefully it's never needed. If
it's needed, there's nothing more amazing than
saving a life, right? So defib on site. when
we went down and we met the staff and we looked
around the facility suddenly it became the staff
team the members of the team there were relieved
there were levels of anxiety about losing a child
on site that they no longer had The families
and all the kids that come, like the reassurance
that there's a DFIB on site, you know, and statutory
services said no to funding this DFIB, by the
way. So suddenly we've come along with our superhero
capes on and we've installed this DFIB and that's
amazing. But we paid for the servicing and the
pads for this DFIB for another 10 years. So that
means for the next 10 years, there's less concern
and anxiety around the possibility of losing
a child on site. suddenly it's not just a defib
is it you know the broader impact of that so
yeah we talk about impact and of course there's
there's the obvious bits that you can talk about
but you don't know how much of a difference it
makes intrinsically to people that are part of
that organization and we'll never quantify that
but that's all right because we know we're doing
it do you see all your work weaving together
i mean there's lots of sort of themes and shared
partnerships yeah oh definitely without a doubt
i mean the foundation is strategized off my experience
running mindfulness we're taking away barriers
and we're making it easier the funding mechanism
is put together the way it is Because of when
I work with the York Knights and the commercial
team and the network that I've got there and
the business side of things and taking away all
those barriers, we're trying to make life easier.
And when I kind of take a step back and I think,
mindfulness inspired the foundation. The foundation
is inspiring businesses to kind of do their bit.
It doesn't have to be difficult. It doesn't have
to cost a load of money. It's 1 % of the profits.
A lot of the time, that's their bar tab at the
weekend. And it's... businesses don't need to
feel trapped by that either. You know, there's
no contractual agreement. It's completely flexible.
If they need to cancel a direct debit after month
three because there's national showing sites
of the budget, so be it. That's fine. You've
still done some good for a few months, haven't
you? So, you know, when I kind of take a step
back, I think, yeah, it's massively interwoven,
isn't it? And mindfulness, we've just grown out
to Scarborough and we've navigated that. There's
projects that the foundation's funded out there.
And ultimately for me, If I could just have a
big drum and just bash it every hour ago for
doing some good in the world and how good it
feels and how much of a difference it truly makes,
yeah, I just want to make people listen. Bang
the drum, but also I guess we need more funding
behind it to make those things happen. Correct.
Presumably from your perspective and your experience.
There's still a demand. It's never really going
to go away. Yeah, and in the first 18 months
of the foundation, we gave away just over 35
grand. And that's amazing. Across 12 different
projects, and you think about the impact that
that's had. And we've started the impact reporting
videos, and we're plowing through them now, and
that's amazing. It's a start. And when you think
you've gone from zero to that, that's a good
start. But what plays on my mind is that I open
a dashboard where all the grant applications
have come in. gone through due diligence so there's
a really good project that if the money was there
we'd have said yes there's half a million pounds
worth of projects that we've had to say no to
just because the money isn't there so there's
very much a reality piece of we need your help
you know going to businesses who haven't engaged
with charities because of all the reasons we
mentioned earlier okay now's your time like we've
made it easier use us use us for whatever reason
you want to use us for but use us that 1 % of
profits or just standalone donations or whatever
it is, that's going to enable us to just say
yes more and more and more and more. And we won't
stop until the day comes where there isn't an
application that's good that we have to say no
to. Matty, how do people get in touch with you
if they want to make a difference through their
business? Yeah, so it's a variety of different
ways, but my email address is always a good place
to start because... I never want it to be transactional.
I want to be able to have conversations with
people and get to know them and explain more
and more. I want it to be personal. I want them
to dial in to us as people. So my email address
is a great starting point, which is matty .lewis
at fortisfoundation .co .uk. Our website has
a contact form on it, which is fortisfoundation
.co .uk. But all social media channels. except
x great on social media lots of inspiration i
try i try um no so instagram we're on there fortis
foundation facebook we're on there and linkedin
i use use my linkedin a fair bit and i know for
businesses that makes it more accessible as well
thank you how do you define success what does
success look like for you that's a great question
yeah you have do you know what success for me
is is and we kind of touched on it earlier It's
when someone tells you how much of a difference
that has made, that success. Some people, and
I dare say the majority of us, and I've been
guilty of it as well, it's how much money is
in the bank account, isn't it? Success is defined
by cash. For me, I could live in a cardboard
box on Coney Street, but if people come into
me every day and go in, well done, mate, you've
done a great job today, well done. That fills
your cup, doesn't it? And I absolutely love that.
I live for that. We all love a pat on the back
from time to time, but success is someone saying,
you've made a positive impact on my life or saved
my life. And I'm very blessed to have the boys
at Menfulness around me. And there's four incredible
mates for life there. And I know they would say
the same. Success to them is saving lives. And
there's incredible four lads that I get to work
with there. You have a real kind of camaraderie,
I think, and you've really, all of you have driven
forward something that's making a big difference
across the region. So congratulations on that.
Thank you. Keep doing good work. And I've always
said that you are, we've had many discussions
over the past year, but you're a real case study
of somebody who just gets on with it and connects
and brings a lot of fun and joy to the proceedings
as well. So, you know, thank you. for the work
that you do long may it flourish the final question
matty is the fun one which we've sort of hashed
this around a little bit if your life was a hollywood
film what would it be it would be it would be
hitch but instead of it being romantically connecting
people it will be connecting people through doing
good things good people. So yeah, I'm going to
say hitch, but not for romance. I could never
give out romance tips because I've been single
for six years. So that wouldn't be so good, would
it? Maybe. Who knows? Who knows? Matty, thank
you very much. Thank you for having me. Always
good to see you. Pleasure. Thank you. So there
you go. Head to the show notes to explore links
to mindfulness services, opportunities to engage
with the Fortis Foundation and ways to link up
with Matty. And for anything else, he's always
open to a conversation, especially if it involves
country music, coffee and a bit of downtime.
So please follow us at The Purpose Brief on your
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