A new charity is hoping to improve men's mental health and reduce isolation by getting them outdoors for activities ranging from cold-water swimming and archery to hill walking and breathwork. Because nothing says "let's open up" like hypothermia and a bow and arrow.

Connect Outdoors is being officially launched alongside an International Men's Day event at the Venture Centre in Maughold, where organisers expect about 80 people to take part in a range of outdoor activities. That's 80 people voluntarily signing up for ice baths, which is either bravery or a cry for help - possibly both.

The charity said it wanted to gather research on what kind of support men are most likely to engage with, arguing that services have often been designed without asking men first. A radical concept: asking people what they want before giving it to them.

Chief executive Kate Bergquist said it had grown out of years of work in social care, public services and outdoor wellbeing programmes. She said: "We have this abundance of landscape on the island that is never used enough for health. This should be embedded into everyone's health and wellbeing routine every week." The Isle of Man, it turns out, is not just a tax haven but also a really large, slightly damp gym.

Activities on offer include high ropes, bushcraft, mindfulness, breathwork, yoga, archery, ice baths and guided walks, alongside informal spaces designed to encourage men to connect with one another. Essentially, a full menu of ways to be uncomfortable in nature until you accidentally make a friend.

The charity is built around what is known as "green and blue health", which encourages people to use natural environments such as forests, beaches and the sea to improve their health. So, doctors are now prescribing dirt and water. In related news, your grandmother was right all along.

Bergquist said a key focus would be addressing men's mental health through activities that encourage conversation without making mental health the main selling point. Because if you call it "mental health," many men will run a mile; if you call it "archery," they'll show up and accidentally talk about their feelings between arrows.

As part of Sunday's event, attendees will be invited to complete surveys that organisers hope will help identify which activities and approaches are most effective at engaging men. Yes, the survey is the one activity no one is looking forward to, but science demands it.

Among those supporting the event is Gary Thomas, who runs Walking for Wellness and takes people on Manx hill walks where they can talk through any challenges. The former serviceman and mountain leader said many people found it easier to open up outdoors than in a traditional counselling setting. "It gives them that opportunity to feel secure and have that ability to open up in an environment that's not oppressive," he said. "Nature's not clinical, nature's natural." Also, nature doesn't charge by the hour.

Thomas said group activities could also help tackle loneliness by creating new social connections. "We've had people turn up and find their own circle of friends and common interests," he said. "Then they go off afterwards and explore things together, which is brilliant." So, the outdoors: cheaper than therapy, but with more midges.

Also involved in the event is Douglas barber Joshua Moore, who completed suicide prevention training through the Lions Barber Collective. Moore runs Renegade: Cuts and Clobber, and said barber shops often became places where men felt comfortable discussing difficult issues. "The barber chair is a very special place," he said. "You can leave feeling a little bit better about yourself, whether that's having a nice haircut, but also just having the opportunity for somebody to listen to you." And you don't even have to get in an ice bath.

Moore said he had seen first-hand the impact mental health struggles could have on families and communities, and wanted to support initiatives aimed at encouraging conversation and early intervention. The International Men's Day event aimed to introduce men to new activities and point participants to support available to improve both their physical and mental wellbeing. Which is a roundabout way of saying: go for a walk, have a chat, maybe get a haircut, and don't wait until you're in crisis to do it.