The motorbike community is a tight-knit one that looks after its members – and no group is doing more than Mental Health Motorbike (MHMB) to help riders when life’s stresses and challenges get too much.
MHMB is a mental health charity run by trained volunteers that’s dedicated to helping motorcyclists who are struggling with mental health issues.
It was formed in 2019 by Paul Oxborough – better known as Oxo – and his friend Jay Lucas in response to the sad death of a mutual pal, Dale Caffrey.
Paul takes up the story:
“Dale was a close friend of ours, someone we’d known since we were 11. But when he was 38 he took his own life. I spoke at his funeral, and said I was determined to do something to help others who were struggling with their mental health but didn’t feel they had anywhere to turn.”
It’s a sad fact that the most common single reason for men under the age of 50 to die is by taking their own lives, and men make up around 75-80% of all suicides. Dale’s death was just one of many tragic stories every year, but it galvanised Paul and Jay into action.
And from that pledge at the funeral came the idea of creating a group focused on the mental health of the motorcycling community - and Mental Health Motorbike was formed.
Today it has over 1,000 mental health first aiders and 100 active volunteers on its books, acting as its ‘mental health champions.’ All have undertaken a comprehensive mental health training programme to allow them to reach out and support bikers who are struggling to handle life’s challenges.
Paul explains:
“I wanted to do something when Dale died, and the more I thought about how to help others with their mental health, the more I thought about targeting one group. I’m a passionate motorcyclist, I have been since I was 14, and I knew how strong the biker community is. It seemed a good place to focus.”
There’s no definitive evidence that bikers struggle with their mental health more than any other group, but Paul says he has enough anecdotal evidence to suggest there may be a link. “I’ve spoken to a lot of biker friends and they’ve freely admitted to struggling with their mental health. Is it linked to the risk element of riding? I’m not sure. What I know is that bikers can be a breed apart.”
He’s also ready to admit that the community is possibly more neurodiverse than the rest of society.
“I meet a lot of bikers who tell me they are autistic, or have ADHD. [Research suggests that while only one per cent of the population is classed as autistic, people who are autistic represent 11 per cent of suicides]. Biking gives them a release from that. When you are riding you know you are vulnerable, and you have to focus so hard: on the ride, on other road users, the weather, the road conditions.
“But we’re in a natural state. We’re not cocooned in a box like car drivers are, we’re out in the open, in communion with nature. It may be cold or wet but we feel the environment around us and that freshens us up and can create a clarity of thinking that blows away our troubles.”
And once off the bike, the environment changes; as soon as the helmet comes off, bikers find other bikers to chat to.
“We’ll ride into a car park and as soon as we see another bike we’ll be off having a look at it, chatting to its owner, talking about the ride. Other bikes are like a magnet to us.”
It’s this feeling of a community that MHMB trades off.
“You get a bunch of bikers together and they’ll talk about biking, but once those barriers are down there’s a safe space in which trust is built. MHMB’s mental health champions feed off that and facilitate conversations in which people can be more open about how they are feeling and whether some of life’s challenges are becoming too much for them.”
MHMB’s biggest areas of interaction occur at biker events around the country.
“If there’s a bike event going on, you can bet we’ll be there,” says Paul. “Last year our volunteer teams attended 202 events at which we had lots of interactions with fellow bikers. This year we’re targeting getting to over 300.”
At each event the MHMB flags and banners are proudly waved, with the stand manned run by volunteers, some of whom have been through their own mental health crisis and come out the other side. “We have a strong team of volunteers who are trained to lead conversations. Often people will come over and just talk bikes – we’re always happy doing that! – but once they know they are in a safe space, then the guards come down a little and they start to open up about how they are really feeling.
“They see the team from MHMB as being just like them. We’re a rough and ready bunch at times, all dressed in biker gear, but we’ve loads of lived experiences we can bring to bear to help people out, plus that training which allows us to offer real support.”
The number of times MHMB has helped people turn a corner in their lives are, Paul says, “too many to count.”
“The number of people who tell us that an MHMB intervention helped them come to terms with the problems they were facing are innumerable. We diarise some on our website, but one always comes to mind for me.
“We were at the Overland event, and a biker approached our stand to say that a visitor hadn’t ventured out of his tent. We popped down to check he was okay, and invited him to the stand for a cup of tea and a chat. He openly admitted he was thinking about suicide. He was in a bad place.
“We chatted to him all weekend, kept encouraging him, getting him to talk through his feelings.
“He left us on the Monday and we knew we’d done our very best to help him, but weren’t sure whether we’d done enough.
“We were delighted when, six months later, he popped up on our Facebook page support group, offering advice to a fellow rider who was struggling with their own challenges. Not only was he alive and well, he was now looking to pass on the support we had given him to others.”
The MHMB Facebook peer support page group is a crucial part of its support network.
“It’s a really professionally moderated site that is an open and safe space for people to share their feelings. We have simple rules: no-one will judge you, no-one will mock you for how you are feeling, you are with friends. We have lost count of the number of people who have told us how the messages of support and advice they received from the MHMB community had helped them turn their lives around.”
MHMB works with a number of high-profile organisations active in the motorcycling and road safety sector.
“We are in partnership with IAM Roadsmart, RoSPA, Blood Bikes, the MCIA and the National Motorcycling Museum, building programmes to run alongside their usual work but always with the focus on improving mental health. We focus a lot on mindfulness techniques, and on how to come to terms and handle stressful situations, including bereavements.
“As we get older bikers face bereavements and have health issues and retirement creeping up on them. They can feel isolated, with no-one to turn to, particularly if they lose their partner or step away from work. The Facebook page group is a great way for our community to offer help, guidance and support.”
MHMB is a national organisation, currently split into 22 regions, each manned by a co-ordinator who is supported by their team of local volunteers.
“They will attend local biking events, races, trial shows, anywhere where there will be a lot of bikers present. We’re friendly, approachable and here to support you. Next time you’re at a bike show, look us up. We’ll probably be there, always with a brew to hand.”
Mental Health Motorbikes is also always looking out for new volunteers to help out.
“The mental health first aid training programme is excellent. It’s online and takes about 15 hours. It’s not about having prior qualifications, rather it’s all about using your own lived experiences to help others. The training them gives you the skills to really make a difference.”
To find out more about Mental Health Motorbikes, including local contact points, events they will be attending and how you could volunteer, see https://mhmotorbike.com
Photo credit: MHMB volunteers at work’