Founder Ben Hughes explains,

When I was a teenager back in North Somerset, England my Dad insisted that everybody was home for a family meal at 6pm every Sunday night. Everybody had to sit around the table together, there were no excuses. As a teenager this was often a pain as I would be out with friends, I had to know the bus timetables off by heart.

My Dad had to become Mum and Dad when my Mum passed away when I was 9. A tough job bringing up three boys, especially a hyperactive 9 year old. He learnt to cook and mostly we lived off a staple diet of potatoes, ham, eggs and cheese.  However, on Sundays he would cook up a roast along with the traditional over cooked vegetables of that era. We had to be there and sit around the table. In winter the kitchen windows would steam up as the pots and pans of boiling vegetables kept him busy.

So how does that get us to a table and a listening space? Well, my Dad was a very social man, a man of community action, a man who also enjoyed food and wine. Sunday nights at our house in the village of Backwell, North Somerset turned into legendary nights. Not only was it my Dad and his three sons, it was also a whole parade of people from the village and beyond.

My Dad invited a diverse range of people to come and sit at our table, every Sunday. Divorced men from the village, new families who had moved into the village, family friends, our friends, neighbours and girlfriends. They all came. We sat, we ate together, we drank together and listened together. We sat and we listened to characters such as Norman, a friend of my Dad’s who was an ex RAF pilot and somebody who made out as if he had been a spy. His clipped moustache twitching as he told the story where “My damn toaster blew up at 07:00 hours”.  Big Jim, a friend of my eldest brother and drummer in a band; Mark, a friend of my middle brother who had been knocked off his moped when he was 16 and had lost three fingers on one of his hands. Our rugby loving Welsh neighbours, various girlfriends, mates from school, business colleagues of my Dad, they all came. What nights we had!

When I got older and looked back I started to remember the diversity we had around the table. How we listened and found out so much about people, just the most amazing stories. We sat around a table with food, with wine and with a wide range of people. 

Life moved on and I travelled and eventually found myself living in Sydney, Australia. I was self employed and life was mostly on the down after a divorce. In fact, life was not great. I was a member of a business networking group and at the end of one meeting I got talking to two men, David Peach and Tony Greaves. I told them how bad life was for me, they responded by saying mate we know we experience the same things. At that moment I did not feel alone and knew I had to do something about it. The next time I attended the networking group I stood up at the end of the meeting and said “I’m going to start a men’s group, who is in. It’s going to be called The Men’s Table.” Our first meeting was in Surry Hills, Sydney on 1st May 2011. In 2019 it was decided to start more Tables as of January 2025, there are now over 200 Tables right across Australia. Men meet, listen, share, support and are supported if needed. The table plays such an important role in the whole thing.

You are possibly sitting at a table now as you read this. Think about how many times you have sat at a table! It is a lot, probably with friends and family, some of your best memories will be sitting at a table with people you love. Tables are an important part of our society. They are where we eat, drink, communicate, play games and from where we sit and look out the window; where we spend time.  

If you are not spending time with somebody at a table today, I hope we can start a table near you where you can come and meet a Norman, or a Big Jim or a Welsh rugby fanatic and get to hear their story. If you listen, people will tell you the most amazing stories of their life, and you can tell yours. 

I left The Men’s Table in April 2024 and after sometime to myself, the project for a permanent table really started to come together. The story will continue……