The pub was taken over on a three week basis under the name the Brother’s Arms.
The venue showcased a range of events from Wednesday 19 February to Thursday 6 March.
Events were primarily centred around supporting male health and encouraging men to connect and share varying issues.
These have including the “inbetween man” event, “deliberate dad” event and “what’s behind male midlife changes” event.
Online resources
All events have been free and aimed to foster open ended conversation around different issues men deal with daily, fostering a sense of community within a safe space.
Speakers at the event included author Max Dickins, Man V Fat coach Bob Stamenga and urology nurse, Helen Lake.
Topics covered ranged from male suicide prevention, education around heart health and quizzes around men’s general health.
Androlab, the company behind the Brother’s Arms offers a range of resources online within their TrTed platform, which offers education around dealing with Testosterone to general education around men’s mental health.
Initiative mission
The Brother’s Arms website read: “Sadly, almost two in five men die early in the UK and often for health reasons that can be prevented.
“We’re on a mission to change this. So we’ve opened the Brother’s Arms- Britain’s first mental health pub, dedicated fully to the wellbeing of men in our communities.
The temporary take over of Westow House, underlines Androlabs' growth strategy, uniting male members of local communities and fostering healthy conversations.
Androlab’s Instagram post said: “The hardest conversations often happen in the least expected places.
“But what if the next time we pulled up a barstool, we pulled down some of the barriers surrounding men’s health and wellbeing?”
All events showcased by the pub have been open to everyone.
The Morning Advertiser (MA) spoke to Androlab commercial director, Bob Cutting to find out more about the Brother’s Arms and understand how pubs can unite men.
“We did some research with more than 1,000 men and found that when men are concerned about the health of a mate, the pub is the place they will most likely talk to them about it (42%) – more than a phone call (36%), text message (12%) or speaking to his partner (6%).
“Pubs are at the centre of our communities and a place where not just men, but the whole family, go to connect and unwind.”
Cutting explained why the Brother’s Arms was started and what the main aims of running the pop up were. He stated:
“Men die on average five years younger than women, and largely from preventable causes. The Brothers’ Arms was created to get men talking about their mental and physical health.
“I know from my personal experience – I had a heart attack 5 years ago – that men don’t act on health concerns, they bottle it up and say ‘I’m fine’. So we thought we’d take the education to them, in a place men are most likely to connect and open up – the pub!"
Further expanding on the topics covered during the initiative, he added: “We’ve seen over the last 3 weeks that by creating the right environment, men do open-up and talk about their health.
“We have broached topics such fatherhood, mental health, urology and heart health. We’ve had over 100 people get their blood pressure checked, taught pub quizzers how to check their balls and had conversations about what it’s like to be a man in 2025.”
