Perth Voice Interactive

MAYLANDS man Darren Peterson is inviting blokes along to a free barbeque to have a chat and make connections. 

Mr Peterson previously hosted similar barbecues for men’s health charity Mr Perfect in Kalamunda for a few years. After recently moving to Maylands he’s hosting the first one in his new neck of the woods.

“We can talk about football, we can talk about cars, we can talk about music. We can talk about mental health as well, but it’s not clinical. It’s about creating a space to come down and have a feed, have a little bit of music playing, and you can come and say as much or as little as you want.”

In his day job Mr Peterson is a mindfulness and meditation instructor, a big change in direction from his earlier career.

“I’m from Wales, and I came to Australia when I was 30 and I worked FIFO and construction mainly,” Mr Peterson says. “And I had a few struggles myself when I was working FIFO.”

He says it’s common for men to have a hard time making new friends, but the barbeques have been a good setting for some long-term friendships to develop over snaggers, hashbrowns and soft-drinks. 

“I’ve seen the magic happen,” he says. 

“It’s not a support group in the sense of an AA meeting. We’re not standing around saying ‘this is my first time I’ve experienced depression’. It’s just creating a non-clinical environment… a place for every male to know they’re not alone, and somewhere they might make a lifelong friendship.”

Mr Petersen first attended one of the barbeques in East Perth, and after seeing friendships being made he decided to become a host.

The “Mr Perfect” name is an ironic moniker for the charity’s founder Terry Cornick, a Sydney man who says his friends thought he had the perfect life on the surface, but he was hiding a struggle with depression, anxiety, and PTSD.

The first free barbeque is on September 17 from 10am to noon at Maylands Foreshore Reserve, and no sign-up is needed; there are plans to make it a monthly event. 

by DAVID BELL