Tech giant Oracle announced this week that up to 30,000 employees would lose their jobs, and official documents have put a finer point on just who is being let go in the sweeping lay-offs.

Oracle sent lay-off notices via email at 6 a.m. local time Tuesday to employees in Canada, India, Mexico, and the U.S, citing “broader organizational change” as the reason, according to Business Insider. The company made the cuts to free up $8 billion to $10 billion to fund AI projects, according to The Next Web.

Some 491 employees who work remotely, or at two Oracle locations in Seattle, Washington, will be laid off in June, according to a WARN Notice filed with the state’s Employment Security Department late last month.

Companies are obligated to file WARN Notices if they have at least 100 full-time employees and plan to lay off at least 50 people at a single location, according to the Department of Labor.

Among the 491 Washington employees who were laid off were 270 software developers; 46 software development managers, directors and vice presidents; 40 program managers and 30 product managers.

Oracle, which provides database management and cloud computing solutions, also plans to let 539 employees go at its Kansas City, Missouri, campus from May 26 to June 1, according to a WARN notice filed with the state’s Office of Workforce Development March 31. Positions include:

The company laid off around 12,000 employees in India, including positions in engineering and cloud infrastructure, global news network NDTV reported Thursday.

Oracle employees expressed their shock across social media following the lay-offs.

“It’s hard to put into words how heavy this feels,” Oracle customer success manager Eugenia Zanolli Andrade wrote Tuesday on her LinkedIn page. “Work is way more than just your source of income, it’s also a space where we grow, contribute, and build a sense of purpose.”

Oracle’s sweeping cuts are another red flag to white-collar workers over the shift to AI at major companies. The reported $8billion and $10 billion savings will fund AI-related projects such as building data centers, according to The Next Web, citing data from investment bank TD Cowen.

Oracle declined to comment to The Independent.

The Oracle lay-offs follow similar decisions by other tech firms in recent months. Amazon announced 16,000 lay-offs in January, largely in white-collar positions, according to CNBC. Block, a fintech company headed by former Twitter boss Jack Dorsey, let around 4,000 employees go in February.

AI’s impacts on white-collar jobs goes beyond the tech industry – Goldman Sachs recently estimated that 6-7 percent of U.S. workers could lose their jobs amid wider AI rollouts.

In October, Ford CEO Jim Farley said he expects AI to replace “literally half” of all white-collar positions, Yahoo Finance reported.

AI firm Anthropic said in a March 2026 report that computer programmers are most susceptible to AI-related job cuts. Customer service representatives, data entry, medical record specialists, market research specialists and marketing specialists are also easily replaced by AI, Anthropic stated.

H.P. Newquist, a consultant and analyst at AI tracking firm The Relayer Group, said the recent Oracle layoffs were related to AI in a more indirect way.

“The Oracle layoffs are only related to AI in that the money saved by slashing the workforce will be applied to building AI infrastructure,” Newquist said in an email to The Independent. “The layoffs have little or nothing to do with the applied use of AI to replace employees.”

Beyond AI, the Oracle layoffs should give prospective job-hunters food for thought, said Jessica Kriegel, chief strategy officer at business consultancy Culture Partners.

“The reason people should take note of the Oracle layoffs is because this represents a behavioral shift for the company. They’ve historically done incremental, surgical layoffs, not sweeping ones,” Kriegel told The Independent in an email.

“The move to large-scale cuts signals a change in how leadership is thinking about the future of work.”

She added: “This is the part people are getting wrong: AI isn’t directly replacing jobs at scale yet. But AI spending is forcing companies to make tradeoffs, and labor is where those tradeoffs are showing up.”

IN THE dim and distant past, on a day out to a town or city, you would park your car in a designated car park. On the way in, you would pass a little hut or kiosk, wherein sat a man who would hand over a ticket stamped with your arrival time.

Later, after a hopefully pleasant day out, you would return to your car and drive out, passing the little hut or kiosk, where you would hand back your ticket and pay the fee. This was usually in cash, because in those days we weren’t talking three-figure sums.

Now, even the idea of visiting somewhere that could potentially involve the use of official car parks fills me with dread. This is all down to automatic car parking machines. These things scare the life out of me. On the occasions when I have been forced to use them – when there has been no alternative within a three-mile radius – I have generally had to enlist the help of others. On occasion, I have simply given up and driven off.

The last time I attempted to use one, in the North Yorkshire town of Northallerton, I couldn’t get the machine to accept my money, and, along with two other drivers, became even more flustered when a passer-by said the car park would start charging after ten minutes, having captured our vehicles on camera at the entrance. We sped out of there faster than F1 Ferraris.

I was reminded of this while reading about a woman fined for spending 11 minutes in a car park in Stratford-upon-Avon, after, she alleges, finding the car park machine broken. Her initial £100 fine rocketed to £270 after she refused to pay.

A similar thing happened to me in a small car park in Grasmere in the Lake District. Not too long ago only large car parks in popular towns like Ambleside and Keswick had car parking machines. On our last visit to the Lakes, in early 2020, they seemed to be everywhere, even on tiny roadside patches of soil, which this was.

The machine took my money but I couldn’t get it to register my number plate – it was stuck on the previous one. As suggested by another motorist I took pictures of the meter. We left immediately and I contacted the company in question, who noted what had happened. I didn’t get a fine, but it affected our day out – we ended up driving back to our hotel and walking nearby.

Things are getting worse not better. Now many car parks have removed pay-and-display machines and are changing to remote app-only payments to reduce maintenance costs. I don’t want dozens of parking apps for different companies cluttering up my phone, and chances are I would struggle to use them anyway. I recently came across a man in York standing beside his car fretting as his phone was stuck on the pay screen, the little white circle whirling endlessly around. Not everywhere has great internet reception.

Also, I am loathe to tap my bank details into a car park machine, or indeed pass them to a car parking firm I know nothing about.

This sort of thing unnerves me so much that we now tend to go most places by bus or train. Of course this has its advantages environmentally, but it definitely restricts where we go and how often.

It’s yet another example of a world that doesn’t care about people who are not comfortable with modern technology. Some older people don’t even have mobile phones and others may not own a smartphone. Having to download an app to pay for parking, when short-stay amounts can be as little as £1, seems to me ludicrous.

I still have a bag of coins in my car – a throwback from the man-in-hut days – for use in parking meters. In my experience few people like parking apps. I live in hope that, one day, we technophobes will rise up, and the tide will turn.

It’s also believed a nun that was trapped and left to die in a building haunts the town

One of Cambridgeshire’s market towns is believed to be haunted by ghostly monks. As a town with lots of history, it’s one that also comes with spirits and ghosts. Ramsey is considered a “highly haunted town”. Paranormal investigators have investigated several parts of the town.

They claim to have identified ghostly monks and orbs. One very haunted place with some of these spirits is Ramsey Abbey. The abbey was founded in 985 and was home to at least 80 monks. The abbey was dissolved during Henry VIII’s reign. Today, there is not much left to see, except the 15th century abbey gatehouse, the Abbey School, and a parish church with a bell tower.

Another place believed to be haunted is Ramsey’s high street. In 1665, the plague hit Ramsey due to a contaminated coat from London. Those who died from the awful disease are thought to haunt the high street late at night.

The Ale House Kitchen, formerly the George Hotel, is said to be haunted by its former landlady, who was called Mary. Mary reportedly died in a fire after she blew out candles. Ramsey Rural Museum is also said to be haunted. In 2013, a paranormal database reported ghostly activity, where unexplained noises were heard and dark shadows were captured on pictures.

Keeping with ghostly religious figures, Bodsey House is said to be haunted by a nun. It’s reported a nun went to the house in the 14th century to visit her dying brother. However, she was caught and punished by being bricked up in the chimney breast and left to die.

The four crew of Nasa’s Artemis II mission have shared a “spectacular moment” as their craft left Earth’s orbit and started its final push towards the far side of the Moon.

During the first public video conference with the crew, Commander Reid Wiseman said they saw a “spectacular view” as the spacecraft moved away from Earth.

“You can see the entire globe from pole to pole… It was the most spectacular moment and it paused all four of us in our tracks,” he said.

In what is the first crewed mission to the Moon since Apollo 17 in 1972, the four astronauts on the Artemis II mission spent the first 25 hours of the flight circling the Earth after the launch from Cape Canaveral in Florida on Wednesday evening.

The spacecraft is now heading around the far side of the moon and back again.

Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen said the crew were glued to the windows to see the “phenomenal” view.

He said: “Humanity has once again shown what we are capable of, and it’s your hopes for the future that carry us now on this journey around the moon.”

Hansen told Nasa‘s mission control that the crew “firmly felt the power” of those who had worked hard on the Artemis II mission

“Humanity has once again shown what we are capable of,” he said. “It’s your hopes for the future that carry us now on this journey around the Moon.”

After spending about a day in Earth’s orbit, Orion‘s engines, navigation and life-support systems were checked and given the final approval. The engine burn began pushing the spacecraft thousands of kilometres per hour.

The five minute and 55 second engine burn went “flawlessly”, Nasa’s Dr Lori Glaze said afterwards.

Orion is now set to head around 4,000 miles beyond the moon with a lunar flyby on Monday the next major milestone which will send the crew some 252,000 miles (406,000 kilometres) into space before returning to Earth.

The current record for the furthest spaceflight is about 248,000 miles, held by members of the Apollo 13 lunar mission in 1970, which was hit by technical problems.

However, if something does go seriously wrong the astronauts can still turn back using a U-turn which will get them home within 36 hours.

The astronauts will get to see a total solar eclipse on the sixth day of the mission as the spacecraft cruises beyond the Moon.

While the astronauts will not touch down on the Moon, the Artemis II mission paves the way for a future lunar landing and also lays the foundation to send a crew to Mars.

The mission previously had to be postponed by two months because of hydrogen fuel leaks and clogged helium lines.

Nasa is seeking to return a crew to the lunar surface by 2028, before China does in about 2030.

‘They have to know that they can’t get away with everything’

‘Mouthy’ kids running riot in the centre of Rochdale need to face tougher action, people in the town say. Teenagers have been reported to have ‘terrorised’ business – harassing staff and ‘causing criminal damage’.

On Thursday (April 2), Greater Manchester Police said a section 34 dispersal order, covering the entire town, would be enforced for 48 hours. Cops said it would help tackle the anti-social behaviour people in Rochdale say is rife.

The order allows officers to ban people from an area. People living in the town told the Manchester Evening News large groups of youths gathering and causing trouble was common.

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Some stores have beefed up security, with guards stationed at the doors of businesses. Jeanette Scott, 83, said: “I saw about 50 to 60 of them the other day. They were just running around, being very mouthy to the PCSOs.

“I think the police have done the right thing with the order. They’re doing what they have to do. They have to know that they can’t get away with everything.”

An 18-year-old, who asked not to be named, said there was ‘absolutely a problem with anti-social behaviour’ in Rochdale. He said troublemakers need to face tougher action.

“I went to school with a lot of these people and I know what they’re like,” he said. “There’s always something happening, especially near the bus stop. You see them running around, getting into fights. At least once a week there is some kind of incident. Something has to be done.

“There needs to be some kind of consequence – like if you act up then you’re banned from public transport or can’t come into town. Something like that.”

There are two main corridors of shops in the town centre. Yorkshire Street has charity shops, nail salons and clothing shops, while newly-built Rochdale Riverside – a few feet away from a tram stop and bus station – has teenage favourites including Nandos, Taco Bell, JD, H&M and a cinema.

People in the town say Riverside is an issue. “You barely see any kids on Yorkshire Street,” one business owner said. “Most of the groups hang around on that [Riverside] side, near the cinema and bowling alley.

“The other day I finished work and there was loads of them. But they are all out of school and that’s what they going to do.” Speaking about the dispersal order, another person said: “I think that’s more of a deterrent so they don’t come into town.”

On Yorkshire Street, Anna Bradley said she was ‘shocked’ to hear of the order, instead highlighting the good she’s seen in Rochdale’s youth.

“Anti-social behaviour is not something I see around here. But I don’t muck around with young people and am back home by 5pm once the shops are closed. There are little groups here and there, but nothing bad. What are they supposed to do?

“When I was young, this place was busier than Manchester. I was in work by 16 – we had a cinema, a dance hall, all kinds of shops and even a nightclub for teenagers.

“Stuff like that is missing. At that age, you’re treated like a child, but you don’t feel like one. There’s nothing around to help them make that next step in life.

“To make them feel a little bit like an adult. I’m really disappointed in that order. There’s some good kids in Rochdale and sometimes they get tarred with a bad brush.”

Anwar Ali said dozens of youths gathering is a familiar site, adding: “I’m expecting to see them today. I see them all the time, loads of kids in big groups near the tram stop.

“They’re usually in school uniform or during the holidays there are loads. They’ve never done anything really bad, but I’ve seen a fights break out from little groups and stuff like that.”

GMP earlier said: “Officers in Rochdale have put a 48-hour dispersal order in place to enhance their ability to tackle anti-social behaviour. Rochdale town centre has seen several recent reports of ASB, and officers are proactively working to tackle issues in the area.

“Officers have implemented a 48-hour dispersal order across Rochdale Town Centre following recent incidents of anti-social behaviour. This includes incidents yesterday where groups of young people were reported to be harassing staff and causing criminal damage at a business and in the centre.

“The aim of the notice is to minimise behaviour contributing to, or likely to contribute to anti-social behaviour or crime or disorder in the area.”

Inspector Meena Yasin, from GMP’s Rochdale district, said: “We have implemented this order to provide further powers for officers in the area to robustly deal with anti-social behaviour, and to protect people and businesses.

“We will not tolerate anti-social behaviour and where this is reported, we will look to take the strongest action – whether through proactive action or preventative problem-solving work.

“These powers are in place for the next 48-hours, and officers will be patrolling the town centre to ensure everyone has a safe and enjoyable Bank Holiday weekend.”

Bridlington and Filey Coastguard Rescue Teams said that they, alongside the Flamborough RNLI lifeboat, were dispatched to Flamborough Head yesterday (April 2) following reports that two people were stranded as the sea closed in around them.

The crews say that, whilst they were able to quickly locate the casualties, challenging conditions and the strength of the incoming tide made it impossible to reach them safely by boat.

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A rescue swimmer from Bridlington Coastguard then entered the water, but with chest-deep water and powerful tides, it was deemed too dangerous.

With options running out and the tide continuing to rise, the decision was made to call in a Coastguard Rescue Helicopter – who arrived with a winch and were able to lift both people to safety on the clifftop.

The helicopter landing (Image: Bridlington Coastguard Rescue Team)

A spokesperson for the Coastguard said: “This incident is a stark reminder of how quickly situations can change along our coastline, especially over busy holiday periods like Easter. What begins as a simple walk can rapidly turn into a life-threatening situation.

“Please always check tide times and plan your route before setting out and if you see a coastal emergency, dial 999 and ask for the Coastguard.”

Boxing promoter Kalle Sauerland has claimed that Anthony Joshua vs Tyson Fury is “done” and will take place in Dublin this autumn.

British heavyweights Joshua and Fury have been linked to each other for years, with a generational showdown long eluding fans.

However, there is currently hope that Joshua vs Fury may finally materialise – even in spite of a car accident in December, in which “AJ” was injured while two of his teammates were tragically killed.

Joshua, 36, has returned to the gym since that crash in Nigeria, having recently trained alongside old rival Oleksandr Usyk in the latter’s native Ukraine.

Meanwhile, 37-year-old Fury is due to box Arslanbek Makhmudov on 11 April, as the Briton ends his fifth retirement from boxing.

Joshua’s promoter Eddie Hearn has hinted at a summer comeback for AJ, which some fans expect will be a warm-up fight for a clash with Fury. And Wasserman promoter Sauerland has suggested that Joshua vs Fury is closer than some may think.

“AJ-Fury, I’ve heard it’s done for Dublin later this year, so I think that will get announced pretty soon,” he told The Stomping Ground on Friday, ahead of the weigh-in for Derek Chisora vs Deontay Wilder.

Separately, Sauerland told iFL TV: “Fury-AJ, done for apparently autumn in Dublin, fantastic. That’s what I’ve heard, done for Dublin, I think September or October. I don’t know, have I put my foot in it [by revealing that]? That’s what I’ve heard, word on the street.”

The Independent has approached a representative of Joshua for comment.

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In his interview with The Stomping Ground, Sauerland went on: “[Chisora vs Wilder] is probably one of three fights that will end this generation [of heavyweights]. AJ-Fury [and] I think Usyk’s last fight, whoever that is.”

Usyk, who has outpointed Joshua and Fury twice each, will fight kickboxing icon Rico Verhoeven on 23 May. In that bout at the pyramids of Giza, the unbeaten Usyk puts the unified heavyweight titles on the line.

Fury remains keen on a trilogy bout with the Ukrainian, although public interest in that fight seems to be lacking. Either way, Fury must first overcome Russia’s Makhmudov at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

That London main event follows another in the English capital this Saturday, as Chisora boxes Wilder at the O2 Arena.

Britain’s Chisora, 42, has claimed he will retire after this contest, while 40-year-old Wilder’s own boxing future is up in the air.

Like Fury, whom Wilder fought three times between 2018 and 2021, the American has long been linked to Joshua. Fury stopped Wilder in 2020 and 2021 after the pair controversially drew in their first fight.

The fryers were fired up across the region today (April 3) as businesses prepared to sell three times the normal amount of fish to hungry punters. 

Good Friday fish and chips is a tradition that stems from the Christian belief that we should eat fish to honour Jesus Christ’s sacrifice of his flesh on the cross.

And businesses have spent the last few days preparing for the surge in demand. 

People queue up for fish and chips at Cockerton Fisheries (Image: THE NORTHERN ECHO)

Pictures taken at lunchtime today show queues already forming at Cockerton Fisheries, which was expecting queues around the shopping parade from 11am until 8pm.

The venue’s popularity will come as no surprise to many residents, having been named The Northern Echo’s Best Chippy Award for the last two years.

People queue up for fish and chips at Yarm Road Fish & Chips (Image: THE NORTHERN ECHO)

Samantha Todd, who has run the site for the last nine years, said teams have been preparing for today for the last week.

She said: “There is a lot of organisation such as the staff and rotas for the day because it is intense. We order so much more fish for Good Friday than any other time of the year.

“We sell more than three times the amount of fish on Good Friday than we do on a regular Friday.”

Another popular chippy attracting the numbers in Darlington was Yarm Road Fish & Chips, which also had a queue forming outside from just after midday. 

People queue up for fish and chips at Cockerton Fisheries (Image: THE NORTHERN ECHO)

People queue up for fish and chips at Yarm Road Fish & Chips (Image: THE NORTHERN ECHO)

The chippy continues to win awards for its offerings, being named as the best takeaway in the UK at the National Fish & Chip awards in February last year.

It also played a part in Darlington recently being named one of the best towns in the country for fish and chips.

The town landed sixth place in EnjoyTravel.com’s ranking of the UK’s top destinations for the classic British meal.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Pam Bondi is out of her job after failing to deliver criminal cases against President Donald Trump’s political enemies.

But there’s no guarantee her successor will have any better success at placating the president.

Over the last year, Bondi’s Justice Department has encountered resistance from judges, grand jurors and its own workforce in trying to establish criminal conduct by one Trump foe after another. A new attorney general will confront not only Trump’s demand for political prosecutions — a constant dating back to his first term in the White House — but also the same skeptical court system, and factual and legal hurdles, that have impeded efforts to deliver the sought-after results.

“At the end of the day, it’s not like there were some magic steps that Pam Bondi could have taken to make bad cases look good to grand juries or judges,” Peter Keisler, a former acting attorney general in President George W. Bush’s administration, said in an email. “The problem is that the president is demanding that prosecutions be brought when there’s no evidence and no valid legal theory. A new Attorney General won’t change that.”

Bondi was just the latest Trump attorney general pressed to meet the president’s demands of loyalty and desire for retribution. Trump in his first term called for Jeff Sessions to investigate Democrat Hillary Clinton and ultimately pushed him out over his recusal from the Russia election interference investigation. He berated another attorney general, William Barr, over Barr’s refusal to back his false claims of election fraud in the 2020 contest. Barr resigned soon after.

Bondi arrived at the Justice Department 14 months ago seemingly determined to remain in Trump’s good graces unlike her predecessors had, heaping praise on him, offering unflinching support and embarking on investigations into Democrats and the president’s adversaries — even amid concerns from career prosecutors about the sufficiency of evidence.

Days after Trump implored Bondi via social media last September to prosecute former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James, the Justice Department did just that, securing indictments in Virginia.

But the win was short-lived: a judge weeks later dismissed the cases after finding that the prosecutor who filed them, Lindsey Halligan, was illegally appointed. Grand juries have since refused to bring new mortgage fraud charges against James and the Comey case is mired in a thorny evidentiary dispute and statute of limitations concerns. Both Comey and James have vigorously denied any wrongdoing and called the cases against them politically motivated.

Since then, a federal grand jury in Washington refused to return an indictment against Democratic lawmakers in connection with a video in which they urged U.S. military members to resist “illegal orders.” And a federal judge has quashed Justice Department subpoenas issued to the Federal Reserve as part of an investigation into testimony last June by Chair Jerome Powell about a $2.5 billion building renovation.

The judge, James Boasberg, said that the government has “produced essentially zero evidence to suspect Chair Powell of a crime” and called its justifications for the subpoenas a “thin and unsubstantiated” pretext to force Powell to cut interest rates. A prosecutor on the case subsequently conceded in court that the investigation had not found evidence of a crime.

An additional investigation into a Trump enemy remains underway with prosecutors in Florida scrutinizing former CIA Director John Brennan over testimony to Congress related to Russian interference in the 2016 election. That investigation has been open for months, but has not produced charges and it’s not clear that it will. Brennan’s lawyers have similarly called the investigation baseless.

One high-profile Trump critic who could face trial in the years ahead is his former national security adviser, John Bolton, though the investigation that produced that indictment and examined Bolton’s handling of classified documents began before Trump took office.

For now, the Justice Department will be led by Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, who has a longstanding relationship with Trump after having served as one of his personal lawyers. Several people familiar with the matter told The Associated Press on Thursday that Lee Zeldin, a Trump loyalist and head of the Environmental Protection Agency, has been privately mentioned by Trump as a possible pick.

Whoever holds the job in the long term will almost certainly be expected to carry out Trump’s retribution campaign with more success, said Jimmy Gurule, a former Justice Department official and law professor at Notre Dame. Blanche appeared to acknowledge as much in a Thursday evening interview with Fox News, saying “I think the president is frustrated, everybody is frustrated ” and that “what we saw happen for the past four years is unforgivable and can never happen again.”

“If she was fired because Trump did not think that she was moving quickly enough in bringing criminal cases against his political enemies, then you would expect that the person that would replace her would probably agree to escalate those efforts,” Gurule said.

Pressure on mental health services across the UK is leaving many men without timely support when they need it most.

Men in the UK die by suicide at more than three times the rate of women. There’s a link between poor mental health and suicide, which means men’s wellbeing needs urgent attention. Yet long NHS waiting lists for psychological support mean that many men are unable to access help when they need it.

In Wales, the mental health charity Mind Cymru reports that more than 2,000 people with moderate to severe mental health problems are waiting over six months for therapy in any given month. When men are unable or unwilling to seek support, they have historically been inclined to engage in alternative coping strategies, such as substance use.

As formal services come under increasing strain, informal men’s groups, including community-based peer support groups, continue to grow. These groups remain poorly understood. New research by my colleagues and I on these groups in Wales shows that they could help fill an important gap in mental health support.

We surveyed 30 men’s wellbeing groups across Wales and found that these initiatives are thriving despite limited resources. More than 80% reported rising attendance, drawing in men of all ages, which suggests they may be responding to unmet demand.

Most groups were volunteer-run and operated without public funding, which many highlighted as the biggest barrier to providing the group. Only 21% reported having any professionally qualified staff.

Yet these groups offer men a space where they can turn up and talk without fear of judgment. Their informal environments often appeal to men who feel uncomfortable with clinical structures, assessments, diagnoses and formal appointments. Community groups help remove barriers that can deter men from seeking support and can create a trusting environment perceived as more “male-friendly”.

From health by stealth to emotional openness

Traditionally, men’s wellbeing community initiatives, such as Men’s Sheds, have used “health by stealth” approaches. This means that by engaging in activities together, men are encouraged to communicate with one another. While 40% of groups still used these methods, the research showed a clear shift. Emotional expression is now central in many groups rather than incidental.

Talking about personal issues featured strongly in our survey responses, with nearly 80% of the groups saying they actively encouraged men to speak openly about personal difficulties. Activities used to allow for conversation included support groups, structured discussions and one-to-one conversations.

Emotional expression matters because traditional masculine norms, especially the expectations that men should be tough, reject weakness and hide vulnerability, have made it difficult for many men to talk openly about mental health. These challenges are intensified by long NHS waiting lists that can stretch into months and leave men without timely support.

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Against this backdrop, our research shows that community groups are especially important and could help fill an important gap in mental health support. These groups are creating spaces where men can be more emotionally open and talk about difficulties before they escalate. In doing so, they challenge traditional masculine norms and the idea that men simply will not talk about their problems.

Our evidence contributes to emerging research showing that when the environment feels safe, men do talk. This shift reflects a broader cultural moment in which more inclusive expressions of manhood are being promoted and widely accepted, and softer expressions of masculinity are becoming more common among men.

A quiet cultural shift

The growth of these community support groups signals a subtle but meaningful shift in how men are experiencing different types of masculinity. These groups are not only helping men cope with health difficulties, but also helping reshape the landscape of manhood.

Within these spaces, men are learning to express vulnerability without feeling that it undermines their identity or masculinity. This matters because these groups may be offering support at a time when demand for NHS mental health services is exceeding what is available.

But informal volunteer‑led services also come with their own challenges. Operating without qualified staff means limited regulation and uncertainty about the quality, standard and consistency of the support on offer.

Our research had a modest sample size, so we still do not know exactly how these groups operate in everyday practice or what they offer to different men. More detailed and in‑depth research would help build this understanding and provide clearer insight into how these groups might complement overstretched NHS services.