International Men's Day (Tuesday, 19 November) does not have the profile of its counterpart, International Women's Day. However, Captain Philip Sutcliffe from the Salvation Army Northern Rivers is trying to change this locally by creating an annual International Men's Day dinner in Goonellabah next Saturday (November 16).

This will be the second event, with the inaugural dinner held in 2023 with 75 Lismore and Northern Rivers men coming together for some male bonding and in support of men's mental health.

"International Men's Day is certainly a passion area of mine," declared Capt. Sutcliffe, "We need to do more, and a lot more for men and men's mental health and raising awareness in that regard."

Cptn Sutcliffe and his team have been working hard on attracting funding and support from local businesses to create a wonderful night with a very special guest.

"We've been able to lock in Preston Campbell from the Gold Coast Titans. Preston's got a great connection here to the Northern Rivers. He's actually got some family here in Lismore as well.

(Preston Campbell. Photo: Celebrity Speakers)

"Preston was a great NRL player on the field, was part of the inaugural Gold Coast Titans team, and was the first life member of the Gold Coast Titans. But it's actually the work that Preston's done since retiring, which is really life-changing.

"He started a foundation, and he is working with young Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander kids, developing life skills and providing mentoring and support to them. And so, with his foundation, they run a cafe inside Dreamworld, where they cook all the food and serve the customers that come through there. But then they also do commercial catering events and other things like that. So, he's teaching these young kids life skills and getting equipped for adulthood and life out in the real world."

This year's theme for International Men's Day is positive male role models. It would appear that Preston Campbell fits that bill.

"He absolutely fits the bill. When we were looking around for someone as a special guest, we had a really good link to the Gold Coast Titans in the flood recovery. A whole stack of their team came down and helped clean out our family store after the floods. So, we just got connected with them over a few different events post-floods; they're great supporters of the Northern Rivers here.

"They said, if you ever want help or events or anything like that, reach out. So that's exactly what I did.

The second annual International Men's Day event is being held at the Salvation Army Northern Rivers building in Goonellabah (30 Cambridge Drive - not far from the Goonellabah Shopping Centre). It is a FREE event that needs to be booked for catering purposes. Click here to register.

The catering will be purchased through local businesses, and there will be prizes given away throughout the night.

"It's being hosted at the Salvation Army, but it's a community event. It's open to all guys, and it's funded by the local community," Capt. Sutcliffe explained.

"Throughout the year, we've been working with a few of our very generous business and corporate partners to get all the funding we need to be able to put this event on at no charge. And then we've got a whole stack of local businesses who actually help and support everything that we need, like Beach and Bush, who came on board last year; they provide all the drinks for the night at no cost to us.

"All the funding that we received, then gets put back into local businesses to buy the meat and the fresh produce so that we're supporting the small local businesses here in the region. And then we have a whole range of businesses who donate products, so that we can give away lucky door prizes on the night. Lismore Embroidery donates a whole bunch of merchandise that's all branded with the moustaches (International Men's Day logo) and things like that.

"We've got some golf vouchers; Bunnings have given us a pack of Bunnings merchandise that we'll give away; the team from Trade Mutt, who are well known for their bright lairy t-shirts and supporting men's mental health, they've sent us down a huge package of free resources that we can use as well."

Put the date on your calendar: next Saturday, November 16, for International Men's Day at the Salvation Army building at 30 Cambridge Drive, Goonellabah, from 6pm.

"We want to generate some good interest around men, supporting men being positive role models in our community and really just start breaking down that stigma around mental health and other supports for men, so blokes know that we're here for one another. Over the last couple of years, there's been some really good changes in the way that men reach out to one another. It's okay to show emotion and it's OK to share your feelings, so we just want to be part of that overall conversation and do what we can.

"International Women's Day is a really well-promoted event, and International Men's Day has been around since 1991, but it doesn't get much attention. We just want to do what we can to actually help promote the day and the event and also just provide a way of connection for guys in our community.

"There's nothing better than sitting over a meal with a good steak, a good hearty feed, with some live music, and a Q&A with Preston Campbell. It's a great opportunity for us to come together and have a great night out."

You can register for your tickets here.