Richard Sharratt is a man’s man. Not just because he is a decorated British Army veteran but also because he is constantly working to aid men in need. After being diagnosed with PTSD in 2018, Sharratt worked hard to recover himself and co-founded MENtality Matters, a nonprofit creating a safe space for men to reconnect with themselves, rediscover their strength and purpose, and forge community through online support and in-person events. Working with treasurer Eric Gelb, co-founder Chukwuma Eke, and former Navy SEAL Will Chesney, Sharratt and his team now offer a Warrior’s Haven Retreat where veterans can commune and heal in person. We caught up with Sharratt, who discussed his forward-thinking nonprofit.

What inspired you to found MENtality Matters?
One day I was sitting with my friend Eric [Gelb], and I told him I had lost two friends in the last week to suicide. He mentioned that he had lost friends to suicide as well, and said, “I think we need to do something about this because every man we talk to has lost someone through suicide, and the majority of people being lost are men.”
We started to dig into the background and the figures were staggering; Six million-plus men are undiagnosed with depression, around 39,000 men in the U.S. kill themselves each year, and 6,000-plus veterans kill themselves as well. When you hear those figures, you wonder what is being done … and while the VA is doing so much there are people who are really struggling to get the help they require for one reason or another. So, we came up with the idea to start a charity.
What is MENtality Matters?
Our approach is very different. We work with men with a special focus on veterans. We are open to anyone looking for help, but our retreats for the moment are with male veterans and the Warriors Retreats are specifically for men. During retreats, coaches will assess the individuals, and with those assessments, they will look to place the individuals into bespoke coaching programs. We have several partner companies who are on board with these programs, and it’s all fully funded by us, as a charity; so the individual won’t pay a thing as he’s going through the process.
Why do you feel MENtality Matters is so vital?
When veterans are suffering, few people know about it. When they start to fall short in their home life or work life they become introverted, and they start blaming themselves. What we want to do is take that and say, “Well there is a problem, but it’s OK to have a problem and we are going to work through it together. We are also going to get you into a career where you can take it steadily and build up so that when your mind is in the right place, you will also be in the right place for work.” And I think that’s what’s really important: having that lifecycle in our program.