The group meets for walks around the Force countryside, raises money for charity, and is there to support officers around conditions that directly impact on men.

Karl said: “The new chair, Inspector Fergus Green, and I took over about 18 months ago and we’ve looked to relaunch it.

“For two years on the trot we’ve been the top force for fundraising for Movember in the emergency services category which has involved people walking, running, swimming, wearing or growing silly moustaches, whatever they can to raise awareness for men’s health and mental health.

“We’ve done a couple of walks, one in Wales and one in the Malvern hills. We’re just setting one up in Hereford for Men’s Health Week in June.

“It’s aimed at men to get them out, go for a walk, you can talk if you want to talk, if you don’t want to talk then that’s fine, and women can join us too.

“We’ve got some beautiful scenery in our Force.

“Our Force is the fourth largest geographically, so it’s not easy trying to find a location everyone can make which is why we’re trying to alternate it round the Force.

“Hopefully it gives everyone an opportunity to take part.”

Karl became involved in the group around 12 months ago after losing two male colleagues to suicide.

“We’ve been losing too many men for things that could be sorted,” he said.

“I lost two colleagues in quick succession.

“They had got their own struggles and challenges but it was quite hard to deal with. They were friends and I and others within the force hadn’t noticed or picked up on their struggles. It sends ripples throughout the force and wider when these incidents occur.

“How many more people are out there struggling?

“We’re working together every day and people have their smiles on and say us everything is okay but is it really okay?

“As men, can we put our hands up and say we feel stressed or depressed?

“It’s trying to get across that stress is like a physical illness. If you hurt your ankle you rest it heals and you can walk once it’s better.

“Mental health is the same, we need to start thinking about it the same way we do our physical health.”

Karl and Fergus have also started putting together a series of podcasts exploring mental and physical health and the things that can impact on it, including sleep, diet, and stress.

The podcasts are available on the Force Teams channel and intranet.

“It’s light-hearted,” he said. “But stuff we need to talk about.

“It’s done as a podcast so if you’re doing a file at 3am it’s something you can have on in the background.

“We can bore you to death rambling on about sleep while you’re doing your file.

“Fergus is on a nine to five, Monday to Friday, and I work 24/7 shifts, so you have that balance of what works for him on nine to five will not necessarily work for us on shifts.”

Karl said he hopes the group and the podcasts can help men to open up more about how they are feeling.

“It’s trying to break down that barrier of cops are supposed to be strong and tough,” he said.

“We deal with all these horrendous things and feel we should show a stiff upper lip and crack on with it.

“We see so much trauma compared to the average person, we have to have those outlets.

“You think that your colleagues seem to be okay, and that you have to shut up and deal with it.

“It’s okay to be bothered by it, because we’re not designed to see the horrendous things we see.

“We need to make sure we have a way of filing it away, and recognising when it’s too much and we need to empty that stress bucket.

“You won’t be judged by it, you won’t be penalised because you’re recognising your own mental health.”